Читать книгу All Blood Runs Red: Life and Legends of Eugene Jacques Bullard - First Black American Military Aviator - Henry Scott Harris - Страница 5

The scene: Gunter Air Force Museum, Alabama

Two men were disparaging a large glass corner display. “What bullshit! Just ain’t never happened. Hell, no damn nigger was a World War One pilot. They are too dumb. And those medals, he musta stole them.” The other man joined in. “Couldn’t fly his way outta paper bag. Those sons of bitches don’t have a brain big enough. Hey, monkeys don’t fly. Guess dressed that dummy for political reasons. Screw them all. Let’s get outta here.”

Intrigued, I walked to the glass case and, sure enough, there was a life-size, black male mannequin, dressed in a World War One uniform. The banner read: EUGENE JACQUES BULLARD, THE FIRST BLACK AMERICAN MILITARY AVIATOR. Whoa, the first? Was that right? That means he led the way before the Tuskegee Airmen of World War II. Curious, I wanted more information.

Eugene Jacques Bullard was a hero of two wars. He was born in 1894 and his extraordinary journey began when he ran away from his home in Columbus, Georgia at the age eight, seeking equality and liberty in France. Against all odds and obstacles, he made it. How he made it is a story of guts and courage.

This book is the result of my curiosity about this remarkable man. Once started, I couldn’t stop. It took five years of researching American and French documents, military records, State of Georgia data, U. S. Air Force materials, and various archives. It is a trip into his reality in the form of my “interviews” with Eugene just before his death in 1961.