Learning Center Our Enshrinees

Eugene Bullard

• Joined the French Foreign Legion during WWI and was awarded the Croix-de-Guerre with stars for his heroic acts during the Battle of Verdun.
• Flew 20 missions in his Spad VII as the first African American combat aviator
• Honorably discharged from the French Foreign Legion after being wounded three times and downing at least two German aircraft.
• Offered his services to the US Army Air Service when the United States entered the war in 1917, but was denied since African Americans were prohibited from flying in the Army.
• Worked for the Nazi Resistance in France at the start of WWII before returning to the United States
• Was one of three men to relight the everlasting flame at the French Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
• Made a Knight of the Legion of Honor (the highest-ranking order in France) in 1959.
• Posthumously commissioned into the United States Air Force as a Second Lieutenant in 1994