ジェフリー・ライトさんのインスタグラム写真 - (ジェフリー・ライトInstagram)「If you don’t know, now you know... #Repost @airandspacemuseum ・・・ Eugene Bullard is considered to be the first African American military pilot to fly in combat and the only African American combat pilot in World War I. Yet despite this distinction, he didn’t actually fly for the United States. He entered the French Aéronautique Militaire in November 1916 and later tried to join the U.S. Air Service when the U.S. entered the war in 1917, but was rejected due to racial prejudices. The official reason he was not accepted was because he was an enlisted man, and the Air Service required pilots to be officers and hold at least the rank of First Lieutenant but in actuality, he was likely rejected because of his race. Bullard returned France to fight with the Aéronautique Militaire and then the French Foreign Legion. After the war Bullard remained in France until the 1940s when he fled France, fearing capture from Nazis due to his espionage activities against them. He eventually made his way to the United States, settling in the Harlem district of New York City. After his arrival in New York, Bullard worked as a security guard and longshoreman. In the post-World War II years, Bullard took up the cause of civil rights. In the summer of 1949, he was involved in an altercation with the police and a racist mob at a Paul Robeson concert in Peekskill, New York, in which he was beaten by police. Another incident involved a bus driver who ordered Bullard to sit the back of his bus. These events left Bullard deeply disillusioned with the United States, and he returned to France. During his lifetime, the French showered Bullard with honors, and in 1954, he was one of three men chosen to relight the everlasting flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Paris. In October 1959 he was made a knight of the Legion of Honor, the highest ranking order and decoration bestowed by France. It was the fifteenth decoration given to him by the French government. #BlackHistory #AfricanAmericanHistory #WorldWarI #WWI #WWIHistory #worldwarihistory」6月14日 9時55分