Eugene James Bullard, was the first black American military pilot. Born in Columbus Georgia, Bullard fled to Europe in 1912 shortly after the death of his mother and the attempted lynching of his father. If order to escape the horrors of the Jim Crow South he made a life for himself overseas in France. He earned a living as prize fighter and a Vaudeville entertainer. When the World War I broke out he volunteered for the French Foreign Legion in the 170th Infantry a unit called “The Swallows of Death” Bullard was wounded in the Battle of Verdun in 1916 and received the Croix de guerre for his acts of valor. After recovering from his injuries Bullard received training as pilot from the Aéro-Club de France and joined 269 American aviators at the Lafayette Flying Corps. He fought in more than 20 arial combat missions and shot down one or two German planes. In 1994 Bullard was posthumously commissioned a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force.
The Joy Trip Project celebrates the enduring legacy of Black American History. The Unhidden Minute is part of the Unhidden Podcast Project supported through a National Geographic Explorer Grant from the National Geographic Society, with the cooperation of the National Park Service. This series elevates the untold stories of Black American historical figures, events and cultural contributions.
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Eugene Bullard