“Tout le sang qui coule rouge; All blood is red” - Eugene Bullard
(Eugene Bullard)
Eugene Bullard was born on October 9th, 1895 in Columbus, Georgia, USA. In 1901 he went to the 28th street school. As a teenager he stowed away on a boat to Scotland. He then moved to France. While in France he became a boxer.
(Bullard in 1913)
In 1914 he joined the French Foreign Legion.
(Bullard in 1914)
In 1915 he was a gunner and saw combat on the Somme front in Picardy. He served in the 170th Infantry Regiment. In 1916 he was severely wounded in battle. He then became an air gunner. In 1917 he became a pilot. When the US entered the war Bullard was denied the right to still be a pilot. Also In 1917 he was awarded the croix de guerre, Médaille militaire, and Croix du combattant volontaire.
(Bullard in 1917)
After the war he owned his own nightclub in Paris, France. While owning the club he met famous people such as Louis Armstrong and Langston Hughes. In 1939 he became a spy for the French to observe Germans who visited his club. In 1940 he fought with the French against the invading Germans. He was wounded and later returned to the USA When he moved to New York City he became an interpreter for Louis Armstrong. In 1945 he tried to go back to Paris to run his club but it had been destroyed in the war.
(Bullard in 1945)
In 1949 he was attacked in the Peekskill riots. In 1954 Bullard was invited by the French government to help rekindle the everlasting flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier under the Arc de Triomphe.
(Bullard (Left) in 1954)
In 1959 he was interviewed on NBC's “Today Show”. On October 12th, 1961 Eugene Bullard died of stomach cancer in New York City, New York, USA. He was 66 years old.
(A drawing of Bullard)
Today is the 55th anniversary of his death. Take time to remember this great pilot today.
(P.S. sorry for the late post)
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