The year is 1917, and the French countryside, once some of the most beautiful land in Europe,
is now a ruined craterscape that resembles the moon more than the earth.
Two great opposing armies face against each other in trenches that span dozens of miles
in places, and between them no man's land, where not even stray animals dare to tread.
On one side of the trenches, a host of whistles signals a fresh attack.
With a mighty roar men leap up from their trenches and rush across no man's land, machine
guns greeting the fresh offensive.
Men fall by the scores, and within moments artillery joins in the slaughter, the big
guns reaching out across both sides.
In the skies above the battle, an American pilot flying a French plane rises to greet
the incoming German Fokkers.
Dancing and wheeling in the sky, with machine gun fire raking up from below, the planes
jockey for dominance.
From his Spad 7 C1, American fighter pilot Eugene Bullard fights under the French flag-
unwanted by his home nation due to the color of his skin.
In the war-torn skies above Europe though, skin color matters for nothing, and Bullard
and his wingman fight to gain the advantage against their German foes.
At last, after much maneuvering and wheeling, Bullard manages to drop in behind the lead
German and opens up with his plane's machine gun.
The German Fokker quickly breaks to pieces and tumbles out of the sky.
Around him other French and British aircraft successfully repel the German air attack-
the small victory ensures that Allied artillery observation aircraft will continue to call
in accurate ground fire on the attacking Germans.
On the ground below, the friendly artillery strikes true and the German offensive is crushed.
Eugene Bullard was born in Columbus, Georgia to a former slave.
The youngest of seven children, Bullard nonetheless had many responsibilities at home to look
after, as life was not easy for his poor family.
Despite their financial struggles though, Bullard's parents managed to still afford
to send him to some early schooling, and while Bullard didn't do well at school he at least
learned to read- a success which would redefine the course of his life.
Bullard's father taught him early on to retain his dignity when faced with racism, which
as a young black child growing up in the deep south, he was exposed to on a daily basis-
yet thanks to his father's guiding words he retained a deep sense of self-respect.
Things between Bullard and his father however weren't always pleasant, and Bullard often
clashed with his father, many times trying to run away from home.
The near-lynching of his father in 1903, combined with his growing unhappiness at home, drove
Bullard to finally run away for good in 1906.
Bullard fled to Atlanta, in search of a better life and adventure.
There he joined a group of British gypsies who gladly took him in.
The gypsies taught Bullard how to care for their horses, and eventually Bullard learn
to race them as well.
Three years later he finally left the company of his adopted gypsy family and found work
with a wealthy family in Dawson.
Impressed by his strong work ethic and his natural ability with horses, the family quickly
grew close to Bullard and even allowed him to race one of their horses in a county fair.
Unfortunately racism plagued Bullard’s life daily, and eventually he grew determined to
leave the United States.
Encouraged by the stories of Great Britain his former gypsy family had told him, he stowed
away on a German merchant ship on March 4th, 1912.
Just over a week later he arrived in Aberdeen, Scotland, and from there he made his way south.
To earn money Bullard put some of his gypsy talents to work and gained a place with a
black vaudeville troupe.
He also learned how to box, and entered into boxing tournaments winning money as a prize
fighter.
Bullard's travels with his troupe took him across most of Europe, and after a boxing
match in Paris, he decided to stay in France.
Encouraged by the way most blacks were treated by the French, Bullard made a home for himself
in Paris.
When World War I broke out, Bullard decided that he would answer the call to defend his
adopted home, and enlisted with the French Foreign Legion.
A military unit sponsored by the French government who's exploits are the stuff of legend, the
French Foreign Legion accepted all into its service, and offered everyone from convicted
criminals on the run to the poor and wayward a chance to turn their lives around and live
with honor.
For this though, the Legion very often fought in the most difficult battles that France
had to fight, facing the greatest odds and very often snatching victory from the jaws
of defeat.
Service with the legion was tough, and often deadly, but for a non-French citizen, it was
the only way for Bullard to show his appreciation to a nation that had made him feel at home.
Bullard was soon dispatched to the front lines, where he served as a machine gunner.
Bogged down in muddy, filthy trenches, victory and defeat on the western front was measured
in inches.
Modern tools of war had turned battle into carnage, and yet time and again Bullard and
his companions were called upon to rise up out of their trenches and face the German
onslaught.
Bullard would serve in one of the bloodiest battles of World War I, the Battle of Verdun.
Frustrated by the grinding pace of the war, the German imperial command attempted to end
the war early with one decisive strike which would hopefully bleed the French army dry.
Thus they massed their forces and struck out at several key French defensive positions
across the hills of Verdun-sur-Meuse.
The Germans knew they would suffer heavy casualties in the initial attack, but once they secured
the key defensive positions the French currently held, they could command the front lines for
miles, and force the French to counterattack or be routed.
The attack was meant to force the French to commit all of their reserves, and by taking
key defensive positions early, bleed the French army and destroy its morale.
What ensued was a nine month long slog which forced both sides to commit their reserves.
While the Germans had initially counted on an extremely favorable loss ratio versus the
French, by the end of the battle the Germans would suffer just as many, if not more, casualties
than the French.
During this historic battle, Bullard was severely wounded and evacuated to a field hospital.
While recuperating, Bullard grew increasingly fascinated with the stories that visiting
pilots told, and he grew determined to become a pilot.
Making a bet with a friend that he would be accepted into the French air service, Bullard
petitioned to join after recovering from his wounds.
Bullard initially attempted to join the Escadrille Americaine- a squadron of American pilots
who had volunteered to serve with the Allies while America remained neutral.
Unfortunately the squadron had recently stopped accepting applicants, and Bullard would serve
with another squadron alongside French and American pilots.
He would go on to fly twenty combat missions with the French, shooting down two enemy aircraft-
although officially his kills could not be confirmed.
When America finally joined the war, Bullard volunteered for service with the United States
Army Air Service, which reached out to American pilots within the French forces.
Despite passing his medical tests, and being a proven combat pilot, the American air service
declined Bullard, as they were accepting only white pilots.
Perhaps disillusioned by the continuing racism of his true homeland, Bullard would go on
to get into a verbal altercation with a French commissioned officer towards the end of the
war.
He was immediately removed from flight duties and remanded to a services battalion as punishment.
He would serve out his time there until being discharged in October 24th, 1919.
For his service and heroism during the war, the French government ended up awarding Bullard
the Croix de Guerre, the Medaille Militarie, the Croix du Combattant Volontaire, and several
other awards.
He briefly considered returning to the United States, but decided instead to stay in Paris
where he would eventually open his own night club.
In 1923 he married a French woman, Marcelle Straumann, and had two children with her,
Jacqueline and Lolita.
During the interwar years, his nightclub grew in popularity, gaining him many famous friends
such as Josephine Baker, F Scott Fitzgerald, and Louis Armstrong.
As the flames of a new world war grew though, Bullard volunteered his service and his vast
social network as a spy for the French government, helping to expose the activities of French
Nazi sympathizers.
When war broke out, Bullard once more volunteered to serve, this time in the French regular
army.
He was assigned to the 51st Infantry Regiment as a machine gunner, and was severely wounded
by an exploding artillery shell.
As the Nazis advanced across France and the French government was forced into exile, Bullard
fled to Spain, eventually making his way to the United States.
Where in France he had been treated as a war hero and respected no matter the color of
his skin, in the US Bullard was once more confronted by age old American racism.
He settled in New York and worked odd jobs as a perfume salesman, a security guard, and
after reconnecting with his old friend Louis Armstrong, as an interpreter for the famous
musician.
When the war ended he returned once more to Paris, hoping to reopen his night club.
Unfortunately it had been completely destroyed during the war, but the French government
offered Bullard a financial settlement for his loss.
Bullard used this money to move back to the US and buy an apartment in Harlem.
Bullard became involved with the civil rights movement early on, and in 1949 he attended
the concert of Paul Robeson, a black entertainer and activist.
Labeled as a communist sympathizer for simply wanting equal rights and treatment for all
races, a mob of angry whites attacked the concert, resulting in the beating of many
of the black attendees.
Bullard, a World War I hero and World War II veteran, was seriously beaten by several
white police officers and a state trooper.
Shortly after this beating, a white bus driver ordered him to sit at the back of the bus,
and deeply disillusioned with his homeland, Bullard attempted to return to France.
Sadly he was financially unable to resume his old life there and was forced to return
to the country that clearly did not want him.
Despite being beaten, taunted, and harassed by his own country, the French government
nonetheless showered Bullard with honors.
In 1954 he was chosen alongside two other men to relight the everlasting flame at the
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Paris, and in 1959 he was made a knight of the Legion
of Honor, the highest decoration afforded by the French government.
However when the French president Charles De Gaulle visited the White House on an official
visit and requested to meet with Bullard, the American government had no idea who he
was and was forced to track him down- finding him working as a lowly elevator operator.
Bullard died in 1961, and was buried with military honors in the French War Veterans
section of Flushing Cemetery in New York City.
An outcast in his own country, Bullard's legacy would finally be honored nearly forty years
later when the United States Air Force granted him an honorary promotion to Second Lieutenant,
making him eligible to serve in the US Air Force as a combat pilot at last.
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World War II Because He Didn't Know It Ended!
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