Message text The black pilot is a historical figure, not a hollywood invention. He should be Eugene Bullard.
American-born, with a Creek Indian mother, he fled to Scotland to avoid racial discrimination. He joined the French foreign legion in 1914. He had already a Croix de Guerre when he joined the Lafayette Flying Corps in the French Aeronatique Militaire.
With the entry of the United States into the war the US Army Air Service convened a medical board to recruit Americans serving in the Lafayette Flying Corps. Although he passed the medical examination, Bullard was not accepted into American service because blacks were barred from flying in US service at that time.
This is a rather "embarrassing" story for U.S. folks I guess, with the Brits and especially the French playing the role of the good guys. I wonder how the story will be told in the movie... 
More info here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Bullard
--- Message edited by flying_neko |
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