About this item
The incredible life story of Eugene Bullard, the first African American military pilot in WWI, who went on to become a self-taught jazz musician, a Paris nightclub impresario, a spy in the French Resistance and an American civil rights pioneer, for readers of Unbroken and Hidden Figures.Eugene Bullard lived one of the most fascinating lives of the twentieth century. The son of a former slave and an indigenous Creek woman, Bullard fled home at the age of eleven to escape the racial hostility of his Georgia community. His five-year journey led him to a tramp steamer bound for Europe. There he discovered boxing, climbed the ranks and garnered worldwide fame as the Black Sparrow. At eighteen he settled in Paris as a beloved celebrity and bon vivant. A year later World War I broke out.
About the Author
Phil has a degree in History from Harvard and has done Masters work at the Naval War College and Long Island University. After graduation from Harvard Phil went directly into the Navy and became a Naval Aviator. During three combat deployments to Vietnam Phil served with distinction and was awarded, among other decorations, the Purple Heart, the Presidential Unit Citation, the Air Medal, and the Navy Commendation Medal. After his wartime service he rose to the rank of Commander in the Naval Reserve and was also designated as a licensed Captain by the US Coast Guard. As a business executive he worked for two Fortune 500 firms holding several senior positions in sales and marketing. He was also a COO and CEO for four start-up technology firms specializing in the sales and marketing of high-end software products. In 1999 Phil was selected for the Executive in Residence Program at Long Island University's Business Division and for the next six years taught both undergraduate and graduate courses in business at LIU, Southampton. In 2007 Phil accepted an assignment to teach business topics and writing classes at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in Providence. RI. Phil has authored two major non-fiction works under contract to St. Martin's Press. The first is a Vietnam book entitled "Blackhorse Riders," and is the story of Alpha Troop, 1st Squadron, the 11th Armored Cavalry and a battle and rescue operation that took place in March, 1970. It is one of the most exciting stories of heroism to come from that war. "Blackhorse Riders" was the winner of the USA Book News Military History book-of-the-year for 2012; a finalist for the 2013 Colby Award and won the 2013 Silver Medal for History from the Military Writer's Society of America. The second book is entitled: "Fire Base Illingworth" and re-tells the harrowing story of a ferocious battle in the middle of the jungle in Vietnam in April, 1970, where a forward-operating Army fire base is nearly over-run and destroyed by a North Vietnamese Army regiment bent on killing or capturing every soldier. "Fire Base Illingworth" was released by St. Martin's Press on October 29, 2013.In October, 2011, Phil completed a montage of the Harvard Alumni who have been awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award for valor. The book, published by Create Space from Amazon, is entitled "Crimson Valor." Eighteen Harvard alumni have earned the Medal of Honor (more than any other college or university other than West Point and the Naval Academy) . "Crimson Valor" was presented to all living Medal of Honor awardees at their 2012 gathering in Boston. Phil has completed an original e-work entitled "Missed Signals," which chronicles the events that led up to the bombing of the USS Cole in Aden, Yemen, in October, 2000. "Missed Signals" was published in July, 2013, under the Kindle Singles program and is also availab
