Author: Jessica A. Bandel
Close to twenty-two thousand black North Carolinians served in the United States military during World War I. Due to the racial prejudices of the time, however, their war time experience was drastically different than that of white American soldiers. Long standing prejudices held by white military leaders claimed that African Americans were racially inferior and could not be successfully deployed in any other role but that of laborer. As a result, roughly ninety percent of the state’s African American troopers were relegated to unskilled labor roles; half with the quartermaster corps or in engineer, pioneer, and stevedore units serving overseas, and the other half in construction, depot, and hospital corps units here at home.
The other ten percent were “lucky” enough to find their way into combat units and were deployed to Europe. Still fewer—just forty-nine black North Carolinians—were afforded the opportunity to become officers. Of these, only 27 were ultimately commissioned. One of these men was Thomas J. Bullock, of Henderson.
By the time President Woodrow Wilson declared war in April 1917, the thirty-nine-year-old Bullock had already seen several years of military service and was a Spanish American War veteran. Following the war with Spain, the young man went on to serve in the Philippines with the 25th Infantry Regiment. At the conclusion of his first stint in the military, he entered Lincoln University and graduated from the institution in 1911. Five years as an educator followed, but a call for volunteers during rising tensions with Mexico compelled Bullock to join Company M of the 15th Regiment New York National Guard in October 1916.
Bullock’s prior military experience and advanced education made him a prime candidate for the first and only World War I cycle of officer candidate school (OCS) for black soldiers. Sergeant Bullock reported to Des Moines, Iowa, for OCS in June 1917, joining 1,249 other candidates. The class graduated and commissioned a little over half—639 to be exact—that October. Bullock emerged as a 2nd Lieutenant and instead of returning to the 15th NYNG (the regiment that would become the famed 369th Infantry or “Harlem Hellfighters”), he reported to the 367th Infantry of the 92nd Division.
After a period of advanced training in Bourbonne-les-Bains, France, the division was ordered to relieve American and French troops in the St. Die sector towards the end of August. Upon arrival, the men of the 92nd encountered an enemy frustrated by its recent loss of Frapelle. Thirteen companies took up a position in the front line trenches to hold the line, Lieutenant Bullock among them.
On the night of September 1, the Germans advanced upon the portion of the line held by the 367th. During a lull in the fighting, Lieutenant Bullock and his platoon relieved their weary comrades. Gathering his men around him, the veteran officer made plain the danger they faced that night but swore he would fight to the last. The ensuing German advance peppered the 92nd Division’s line with mustard gas and incendiary shells but was repulsed yet again by the steadfast Americans.
As dawn broke the next morning, news of American casualties quickly spread through the ranks: 34 wounded, 4 dead. Lieutenant Bullock was the division’s first officer claimed by combat. Regimental chaplain George Shippen Stark informed Bullock’s alma mater, Lincoln University, that the lieutenant had been found “where he was expected to be.” “With his face to the front,” wrote Chaplain Stark, “he dropped to his knees, and in that posture he died.” He was forty years old.
Lieutenant Bullock was initially interred in La Chappelle, but in 1921, his next of kin made arrangements to bring him home to Wilmington. He is buried with his wife, Cleopatra, and his father in law George Cleapor in the Pine Forest Cemetery.