Anybody ever notice how crazy some of the stories about people from the past are? Like I can't imagine anyone today doing some of the shit some of the people in the past did. As an example, here's the story of Eugene Bullard:
tl:dw
Dude was born as a slave in Haiti. His family was moved to Martinique to avoid the slave revolts. They escaped and somehow made it to Augusta, GA. He witnessed his father almost get lynched, so he bounced out of America to get away from racism after his dad told him that France wasn't as racist. He didn't have enough money to get to France so he stopped in Scotland. He became a boxer and won enough money to move to France. Almost as soon as he got to Paris, WWI broke out. He joined the French Foreign Legion (since he was an American), and fought through the bloodiest battles in the war as a member of the infantry. He survived one particularly bad battle when almost everyone else in his group died. He was injured, and as a result taken out of the infantry and given two of the highest awards in the French military. He refused to quit though so he decided to become the first black fighter pilot in the world. He flew a bunch of missions and got some more awards. The U.S. joined the army and he tried to join up with the U.S. Air Force, and they were like "Nah, niggers can't fly." So he went back to the French AF. He had a fight with one of his commanders and got sent back to the infantry despite his injury and fought until the end of the war. When the war ended, he was one of the most decorated soldiers in the entire war. He eventually bought his own nightclub and was friends with all the big stars of the time. When WWII was about to break out, he used his ability to speak French and German to collect intelligence for the French. When Paris was taken, he snuck down to Orleans and joined the army. He then fought a bunch of battles in WWII until he was injured and his friends managed to sneak him to America because they knew the Germans would kill him if they took him. In France, dude was a huge celebrity and war hero. When he got to the U.S., he was broke and since he was injured, the only job he could get was working elevators. Eventually, France found him and gave him the highest honor you can get for service to France, and only then did people in America wind up realizing dude was a big deal. France gave him full military honors when he died. The U.S. didn't do shit for him until 30 or so years later when the country formally acknowledged he was a hero.
