Philip Keith

I had no idea

Bullard was born at about the same time, and literally just down the toad, from my maternal grandfather, a Klansman, who also served in WWI. I could not help but parallel their lives as I read, and wish that my family had known his story, that so much of Black and Indian history wasn't invisible to the white world.

The book is well written, seems thoroughly researched, and Bullard led such an amazing life that you are hooked from the first page. Given the obstacles he faced here, it's astounding what he accomplished. With only a second-grade education, he not only learned to fly but became fluent in two additional languages.… (lisätietoja)

All Blood Runs Red: The Legendary Life of Eugene Bullard-Boxer, Pilot, Soldier, Spy
by Phil Keith
Wow, this guy's life is so fanciful, it's like a movie! He runs away at the age of 12 from the south in the USA and heads for France! He heard there is less racism there. By gosh, he makes it and what a story to get there but that is just the tip of the ice burg! He becomes a decorated war hero in two wars in two countries! What an amazing man! Just amazing!
What would have made the book better would be photos.… (lisätietoja)

"All Blood Runs Red" is the improbable success story of Eugene Bullard. Born in Georgia in 1895 to the son / grandson of former slaves, and having what amounted to no more than a second grade education, the likelihood of breaking out of poverty and mingling with the Parisian elite sounds impossible. Yet that is his story.

Bullard ran away from home at the age of 11, took on odd jobs for several years until he stowed away on a freighter to Europe. There, he did odd jobs, and eventually became a professional boxer. Between fights, he also worked as a vaudeville performer. When war broke out in 1914, he wanted to fight for his adopted Country, and joined the French Foreign Legion. In WW I, he fought in the trench Battle at Verdun, and was seriously injured. After he recovered, he was unfit for ground combat, but volunteered for flight school, and became the first and only black combat pilot in WWI. He had two probable victories in air battles, downing two German planes, but due to the racial prejudice of an American advisor to the French air service, eventually was forced to return to his old infantry unit.

After the war, he left the service, and learned to play the drums and worked in several jazz clubs in Paris. Eventually, he became a night club owner, rubbing shoulders with the Paris elite including the likes of Pablo Picasso, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemmingway, Cole Porter, Josephine Baker, and many more.

In the 1930's when Hitler came to power in Germany, Bullard was enlisted as a spy for the French, and kept tabs on German military men who frequented his club. When WWII began, he again volunteered to fight the Germans, was injured again, and after recovering from his war wounds, escaped the German Army by making his way to Spain and Portugal, and returned to the United States. There, he moved to Harlem in NY, and unlike his life in Europe where blacks were welcomed into the fabric of society, Bullard had to face racial prejudice once again in the U.S.

In France, he earned 15 combat medals, including the French Legion of Honor, and was well known and respected in French social circles. In 1954, he was one of three men chosen to relight the everlasting flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Paris. Later, he was made a knight of the Legion of Honor, the highest ranking order and decoration bestowed by France. In NY, he was an unknown man, and the only jobs he found were as a security guard, longshoreman, salesman, and elevator operator. Yet when French President DeGaulle came to the United States, he made a point to invite Bullard to a gala in New York, and to salute him for his service to France. After the DeGaulle recognition, he appeared on the Today show, and Elanor Roosevelt wrote about his story.

Bullard's story is a true success story, one about a person who started with nothing, but worked hard and succeeded in everything he did. Unfortunately, with discrimination against blacks in his home country and with Jim Crow laws, he had to go to France to find acceptance and success. His would be a good story for Black History Month.
… (lisätietoja)