Eugene Jacques Bullard (1894-1961). First African American Combat Pilot.
A true black “Horatio Alger,” at age 17, Bullard fled the lynchings that afflicted his family in Georgia, and stowed away to Europe where he prospered as an actor, boxer and entrepreneur. During World War I, the expatriate volunteered for the French Foreign Legion, winning the Croix-de-Guerre for his bravery in the trenches. Discharged with serious wounds, he reinlisted as a pilot in the French Air Service, but transferred to the American Lafayette Escadrille when the U.S. entered the war. During his short time there he claimed several German planes shot down and was officially credited with one, enough to earn the nickname, “The Swallow of Death,” by his fellow pilots. Unfortunately, the racist stance of a senior American medical officer cut short the career of this promising pilot whose plane’s moniker in French meant “All Blood Runs Red.”
Finally repatriating to his native land, Bullard is perhaps best known for the graphic photos of him being severely beaten by racists and state police officers while trying to attend a Paul Robeson concert in what came to be called the 1949 Peekskill Riot. A dozen years later, fellow New Yorkers were dumbfounded when a large, official delegation from France arrived to pay homage at the funeral of an obscure, door-to-door perfume salesman and elevator operator.
Above, a signed limited edition print by the late artist Don Stivers.