Eugene Jacques Bullard | |
|---|---|
 Bullard in his uniform as a French Armycaporal | |
| Nicknames | French:l'Hirondelle noire de la mort,lit. 'Black Swallow of Death' |
| Born | (1895-10-09)October 9, 1895 Columbus, Georgia, U.S. |
| Died | October 12, 1961(1961-10-12) (aged 66) New York City, U.S. |
| Buried | 40°45′6″N73°47′58″W / 40.75167°N 73.79944°W /40.75167; -73.79944 |
| Allegiance | French Third Republic |
| Branch | Foreign Legion French Air Service French Resistance |
| Years of service | 1914–1919, 1940 |
| Unit | 170th French Infantry Regiment 51e Régiment d'Infanterie |
| Battles / wars | First World War Second World War |
| Awards |
|
Eugene Jacques Bullard (bornEugene James Bullard; October 9, 1895 – October 12, 1961) was one of the first African-American military pilots,[1][2] although Bullard flew for France, not the United States. Bullard was one of the few black combat pilots duringWorld War I, along with Pierre Réjon from France,William Robinson Clarke, a Jamaican who flew for theRoyal Flying Corps,Domenico Mondelli [it] from Italy, andAhmet Ali Çelikten of theOttoman Empire. Also a boxer and a jazz musician, he was called "L'Hirondelle noire" in French (literally "Black Swallow").
All Blood Runs Red, a biography of Bullard by Phil Keith and Tom Clavin, was published in 2019 byHanover Square Press.
Bullard was born inColumbus, Georgia, the seventh of 10 children born to William (Octave) Bullard, a Black man fromStewart County, Georgia, and Josephine ("Yokalee") Thomas, a Black woman said to be of African-American and Indigenous (Muscogee Creek) heritage.[3] His paternal ancestors had been enslaved inGeorgia and Virginia according to U.S. census records, and his father was born on a property owned by Wiley Bullard, a slave-owning planter in Stewart County.[4][5][6][7] Bullard attended the 28th Street School in Columbus from 1901 to 1906, completing the fifth grade.[3]
During his youth, he suffered the trauma of watching a white mob attempt to lynch his father over a workplace dispute. Despite the rampant racism ofJim Crow-era Georgia, his father continued to voice the conviction that African Americans had to maintain their dignity and self-respect in the face of the white prejudice.[8] Despite this, Bullard became enamored with his father's stories of France, where slavery had been abolished and blacks were treated in the same way as whites. When he reached his 11th birthday, Bullard ran away from home with the intention of getting to France. Stopping inAtlanta, he joined a British clan of Romanis known by the surname of Stanley and traveled throughout Georgia tending their horses and learning to race. It was the Stanleys who told him how the racial barriers did not exist in Britain and reset his determination to now get to the United Kingdom.[3]
Disheartened that the Stanleys were not scheduled to return to the United Kingdom, Bullard found work with the Turner family inDawson, Georgia. Because he was hard-working as a stable boy, young Bullard won the Turners' affection and was asked to ride as their jockey in the 1911 County Fair races.[9] In 1912, he made his way toNorfolk, Virginia, where he stowed away on the German freighterMarta Russ,[10] hoping to escaperacial discrimination. Bullard arrived atAberdeen, Scotland, and made his way first toGlasgow and then toLondon, where heboxed and performedslapstick inBelle Davis's "Freedman Pickaninnies", an African-American troupe.[10] While in London, he trained under the then-famous boxerDixie Kid, who arranged for him to fight inParis, France. As a result of that visit to Paris, Bullard decided to settle in France. He continued to box in Paris and also worked in amusic hall until the start ofWorld War I.
World War I began in August 1914. On October 19, 1914, Bullard enlisted and was assigned to the 3rdMarching Regiment of the Foreign Legion (R.M.L.E.),[11] as foreign volunteers were allowed only to serve in theForeign Legion.[12]
By 1915, Bullard was a machine gunner and saw combat on the Somme front inPicardy. In May and June, he was at Artois, and in the fall of that year fought in theSecond Battle of Champagne (September 25 – November 6, 1915) along theMeuse River.[13][14] He was assigned to the3rd Marching Regiment of the 1st Foreign Regiment. On July 13, 1915, he joined the2nd Marching Regiment of the 1st Foreign Regiment and also served with the170th French Infantry Regiment [fr]. The2nd Marching Regiment of the 1st Foreign Regiment and the2nd Marching Regiment of the 2nd Foreign Regiment were serving as part of the1st Moroccan Division. Commanded initially byHubert Lyautey, Resident-General of Morocco at the outbreak of World War I, the division was a mix of the Metropolitan and Colonial French troops, including Legionnaires,zouaves andtirailleurs.[15] Towards the end of the war, the 1st Moroccan Division became one of the most decorated units in the French Army.[16] The Foreign Legion suffered high casualties in 1915. It started the year with 21,887 soldiers,NCOs, and officers, but ended with only 10,683.[12] As a result, the Foreign Legion units fighting on theWestern front were put in reserve for reinforcement and reorganization. On November 11, 1915, the 3,316 survivors from the 1e and the 2eÉtranger were merged into one unit – the Marching Regiment of the Foreign Legion (Régiment de Marche de la Légion étrangère), which in 1920 became the3rd Foreign Regiment of theForeign Legion. Bullard participated in thefighting on the Somme, Champagne, andVerdun, where he was severely wounded on March 5, 1916.
The Americans and other volunteers were allowed to transfer to the Metropolitan French Army units, including to the 170th French Infantry Regiment. The 170th had a reputation ascrack troops, being nicknamedLes Hirondelles de la Mort (in English, 'The Swallows of Death').[17] Bullard opted to serve in the 170th Infantry Regiment, and the 170 military insignia is displayed on his uniform collar. At the start of 1916, the 170th Infantry along with the48th French Infantry Division [fr], to which the regiment belonged from February 1915 to December 1916, was sent to Verdun. During his convalescence, Bullard was cited for acts of valor at the orders of the regiment on July 3, 1917, and was awarded thecroix de guerre.
While serving with the 170th Infantry, Bullard was seriously wounded in action in March 1916 at theBattle of Verdun.[13][18] While recuperating, he learned to fly on a bet.[19] After recovering, he volunteered on October 2, 1916, for theFrench Air Service (French:Aéronautique Militaire) as anair gunner. He was accepted and underwent training at theAerial Gunnery School in Cazaux,Gironde.[11] Following this, he went through his initial flight training atChâteauroux andAvord, and received pilot's license number 6950 from theAéro-Club de France on May 5, 1917.[11][13]
Like many other American aviators, Bullard hoped to join the famous squadron Escadrille Americaine N.124, theLafayette Escadrille, but after enrolling 38 American pilots in the spring and summer of 1916, the squadron stopped accepting applicants. After further training at Avord, Bullard joined 269 American aviators at theLafayette Flying Corps on November 15, 1916,[20][21] which was a designation for all American pilots who served with the French Air Service, rather than the name of a specific unit.[22] American volunteers flew with French pilots in different pursuit and bomber/reconnaissance aero squadrons on the Western Front.Edmund L. Gros, who facilitated the incorporation of American pilots in the French Air Service, listed in the October 1917 issue ofFlying, an official publication of theAero Club of America, Bullard's name is on the member roster of the Lafayette Flying Corps.[23]
On June 28, 1917, Bullard was promoted tocorporal.[11] On August 27, he was assigned to Escadrille N.93 (French:Escadrille SPA 93), based at Beauzée-sur-Aire, south of Verdun, where he stayed until September 13.[24] The squadron was equipped withNieuport andSpad aircraft that displayed a flying stork/swan as the squadron insignia. Bullard's service record also includes Squadron N.85 (French:Escadrille SPA 85), September 13, 1917 – November 11, 1917, which had a bull insignia.[25][26] He took part in more than twenty combat missions, and he is sometimes credited with shooting down one or two German aircraft (sources differ).[14] However, the French authorities could not confirm Bullard's victories.[27]
When the United States entered the war, theUnited States Army Air Service convened a medical board to recruit Americans serving in the Lafayette Flying Corps for the Air Service of the American Expeditionary Forces. Bullard went through the medical examination, but he was not accepted, as only white pilots were chosen.[10] Some time later, while on a short break from duty in Paris, Bullard allegedly got into an argument with a French commissioned officer and was punished by being transferred to the service battalion of the French 170th Infantry Regiment in January 1918.[14] He served beyond theArmistice, not being discharged until October 24, 1919.[13]
For his World War I service, the French government awarded Bullard theCroix de guerre,Médaille militaire,Croix du combattant volontaire 1914–1918, and Médaille de Verdun, along with several others.[14][18] After his discharge, Bullard returned again to Paris.
Bullard found work for four years as a jazz drummer in a nightclub named "Zelli's", which was owned byJoe Zelli. Bullard worked with Robert Henri, a lawyer and friend, to secure a club license, which allowed Zelli's to stay open past midnight. This led to Zelli's becoming the most celebrated nightclub in Montmartre, as most other area cabarets still closed at midnight.[28] Following his time at Zelli's, Bullard departed forAlexandria, Egypt, where he performed with a jazz ensemble at Hotel Claridge and fought two prize fights.[28] He also hired musicians for private parties with Paris' social elites, worked as a masseur, and an exercise trainer. Bullard later managed anightclub "Le Grand Duc", where he hired the American poetLangston Hughes.[28] Around 1928, Bullard was able to buy "Le Grand Duc" fromAda "Bricktop" Smith.[citation needed] As a popular jazz venue, "Le Grand Duc" gained him many famous friends, includingJosephine Baker,Louis Armstrong,Langston Hughes, and French flying aceCharles Nungesser. He eventually became the owner of another nightclub, "L'Escadrille". Bullard's Montmartre fame was such thatErnest Hemingway based a minor character on Bullard in his 1926 novelThe Sun Also Rises.[28]
Bullard also opened Bullard's Athletic Club which was a gymnasium offeringphysical culture, boxing, massage,ping pong andhydrotherapy. He also worked as a trainer for noted boxersPanama Al Brown andYoung Perez.
On July 17, 1923, he married Marcelle Eugénie Henriette Straumann, (b. July 8, 1901) a milliner from Paris'second arrondissement.[29][30] They later separated, though they did not divorce because both were Catholics.[31]
When World War II began in September 1939, Bullard, who also spoke German, agreed to a request from the French government to spy on the German citizens who still frequented his nightclub.
Following theGerman invasion of France in May 1940, Bullard volunteered and served with the 51st Infantry Regiment (French:51e Régiment d'Infanterie) in defendingOrléans on June 15, 1940. Bullard was wounded, but he escaped to neutral Spain, and in July 1940 he returned to the United States.
Bullard spent some time in a New York hospital and never fully recovered from his wound. Moreover, he found the fame he enjoyed in France had not followed him to the United States. He worked as a perfume salesman, a security guard, and as an interpreter for Louis Armstrong, but a back injury severely restricted him. In 1945, he attempted to regain his nightclub in Paris, but it had been destroyed during the war. He received a financial settlement from the French government and was able to buy an apartment inHarlem, New York City.
In 1949, a concert by Black actor, singer and activistPaul Robeson inPeekskill, New York, to benefit theCivil Rights Congress ended in the Peekskill riots. These were caused in part by members of the localVeterans of Foreign Wars andAmerican Legion posts, who considered Robeson a communist sympathizer.[32] The concert was scheduled to take place on August 27 at Lakeland Acres, north of Peekskill. Before Robeson arrived, however, a mob attacked the concert-goers with baseball bats and stones. Thirteen people were seriously injured before police put an end to it. The concert was then postponed until September 4.[33] The rescheduled concert took place without incident, but as concert-goers drove away, they passed through long lines of hostile locals, who threw rocks through their windshields.
Bullard was among those attacked after the concert. He was knocked to the ground and beaten by an angry mob, which included members of the state and local law enforcement. The attack was captured on film and can be seen in the 1970s documentaryThe Tallest Tree in Our Forest and in theOscar-winning documentary narrated bySidney Poitier,Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist. None of the assailants were prosecuted. Graphic pictures of Bullard being beaten by two policemen, a state trooper, and a concert goer were published inSusan Robeson's biography of her grandfather,The Whole World in His Hands: a Pictorial Biography of Paul Robeson.[32]
In the 1950s, Bullard was a relative stranger in his own homeland. His daughters had married, and he lived alone in his apartment, which was decorated with pictures of his famous friends and a framed case containing his 14 French war medals. His final job was as an elevator operator at theRockefeller Center, where his fame as the "Black Swallow of Death" was unknown. On December 22, 1959, he was interviewed on NBC'sToday Show byDave Garroway and received hundreds of letters from viewers. Bullard wore his elevator operator uniform during the interview.
Bullard died in New York City ofstomach cancer on October 12, 1961, at the age of 66.[1] He was buried with military honors in the French War Veterans' section ofFlushing Cemetery in the New York Cityborough ofQueens. His friendLouis Armstrong is buried in the same cemetery.
.jpg)
Bullard received 14 decorations and medals from the government of France.[13] In 1954, the French government invited Bullard to Paris to be one of the three men chosen to rekindle the everlasting flame at theTomb of the Unknown Soldier under theArc de Triomphe.[10] In 1959, he was made aChevalier (Knight) of theLégion d'honneur[10] byGeneralCharles de Gaulle, who called Bullard a "véritable héros français" ("true French hero"). He also was awarded theMédaille militaire, another high military distinction.[34]
In 1989, he was posthumously inducted into the inaugural class of theGeorgia Aviation Hall of Fame.[35] On August 23, 1994 – 33 years after his death, and 77 years to the day after the physical that should have allowed him to fly for his own country – Bullard was posthumously commissioned asecond lieutenant in theUnited States Air Force.[10]
On October 9, 2019, theMuseum of Aviation inWarner Robins, Georgia, erected a statue in Bullard's honor.[36]
There is a sign in Columbus, Georgia, near the site of the house where Bullard grew up, which describes his early life.
In 2022, Bullard was inducted with the class of 2020 into TheNational Aviation Hall of Fame inDayton, Ohio.[37]
 |  | ||
 |  | _ribbon.svg) | _des_Blesses_Militaires_ribbon.svg) |
 |  |  |  |
 |  |  |  |
1st row :
2nd row :
3rd row :
4th row :
In addition to the above awards, Bullard also received the French Pilot's Badge and the fourragere unit award.
Note – Bullard was posthumously eligible for theWorld War I Victory Medal (United States) as he was posthumously commissioned an officer in the United States Army with a date of rank which fell during the eligibility period of the medal.
In 1972, Bullard's exploits as a pilot were retold in a biography,The Black Swallow of Death by Patrick Carisella and James Ryan.[38] He is also the subject of the nonfiction young adult memoirEugene Bullard: World's First Black Fighter Pilot by Larry Greenly.[39]
The 2006 movieFlyboys loosely portrays a fictionalization of Bullard, called 'Eugene Skinner' played by British actorAbdul Salis.
In 2012–2014, the French writerClaude Ribbe wrote a book on Bullard[40] and made a television documentary.[41]
In the 2012 movieRed Tails, the fictional Col. A.J. Bullard (played byTerrence Howard), a thinly disguised representation of theWorld War II African-AmericanTuskegee Airmen's main commander,Lt. Col. (laterGen.)Benjamin O. Davis Jr., is given that surname in honor of Eugene Bullard.[42]
In 2020, the progressive rock/metal project Telergy released the albumBlack Swallow, which portrays the life of Eugene Bullard.
In 2023,Now Let Me Fly, a biographical graphical novel of Bullard's life, was published byFirst Second publishing house.
Eugene Jacques Bullard of 10 East 116th Street, a Negro flier who was honored in France for ...
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location (link){{citation}}: CS1 maint: location (link)Meanwhile Howard's character, Col. A.J. Bullard – a nice tip of the pilot's cap to Eugene Bullard, a Black pilot who flew for the Lafayette Esquadrille during WWI – is a thinly disguised representation of the Tuskegee Airmens' primary leader, Lt. Col. (later Gen.) Benjamin O. Davis.
