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In this week in military history, we explore the career of World War I African American aviator Eugene Jacques Bullard and his posthumous commission as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force.
Eugene Jacques Bullard was born in Columbus, Georgia on October 9, 1894, the son of a former slave. To escape an unhappy home life, Eugene ran away at age 11. After traveling through the American South, he stowed away aboard a German merchant ship bound for Europe in 1912. Bullard found employment as a boxer. He also sang and performed with a group of young black entertainers throughout Europe. Bullard had 42 professional fights as a bantamweight and later a lightweight. Bullard decided to reside in Paris, after traveling to France in 1913 for a boxing match.
When World War I broke out, Bullard joined the French Foreign Legion's 3rd Marching Regiment. When the United States joined the war, many American aviators serving with the French transferred to the United States Army Air Service. While Bullard requested transfer and passed his flight physical, he was denied the opportunity to fly with the Americans due to his race. He served the remainder of the war with the 170th Infantry Regiment. He was honorably discharged from military service on October 24, 1919. After the war, Bullard stayed in Paris, where he operated a nightclub. During World War II, Bullard briefly served with the 51st Infantry Regiment, before being wounded by an exploding artillery shell. He returned to the United States and died in 1961 in New York.
On August 23, 1994, seventy-five years after passing his U.S. Army Air Service flight physical, Bullard was posthumously promoted to Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force.
Join us next time for another segment of This Week in Military History with the Pritzker Military Museum & Library.
photo credit:
Michael Rivera - Own work
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_...
Негізгі бет Eugene Jacques Bullard, Worlds first Black Military Pilot
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