Lieut. Wilmeth Sidat-Singh - Fighter Pilot, Athlete
A pencil drawing combines a portrait of Lieutenant Wilmeth Sidat-Singh in flying gear with scenes of him receiving his wings, playing football for Syracuse and his plane's crash into Lake Huron, with short captions. The technique is an exemplary-person profile that closes on a call to continue 'until the final victory is won'; testimonial is a weak fit, as he is not quoted.
Propaganda techniques used in this cartoon
- Date
- 1943
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Office of War Information (cartoon artwork; artist Charles Alston)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Cartoon
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Persuade or win support
- Themes
- War and the military, Race and ethnicity
- Event
- World War II
- Regime
- Roosevelt administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- U.S. National Archives (NARA), RG 208, Artworks and Mockups for Cartoons Promoting the War Effort (NAID 535594), retrieved October 3, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. government work)
Office of War Information. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 208, 208-COM-193 (NAID 535676).
Text on the object
LIEUTENANT WILMETH SIDAT-SINGH FIGHTER PILOT ~ ATHLETE SINGH WAS SERVING ON THE WASHINGTON, D.C. POLICE FORCE WHEN HE HEARD THE CALL OF HIS COUNTRY. HE WON HIS WINGS IN MARCH, 1943. ONE OF THE MOST BRILLIANT ALL ROUND ATHLETES EVER TO WEAR THE ORANGE OF SYRACUSE, SINGH WAS HAILED BY FAMED SPORTSWRITER GRANTLAND RICE AS "THE GREATEST FORWARD PASSER OF THE DECADE." - HE EVEN WROTE A POEM ABOUT HIM! ON MAY 9, LIEUT. SINGH'S PLANE CRASHED INTO LAKE HURON. HIS BODY WAS FOUND JUNE 27 - ALMOST TWO MONTHS LATER........ HE ONLY HAD A CHANCE TO WARM UP FOR HIS BIGGEST GAME - BUT HIS COURAGEOUS SPIRIT WILL FIGHT ON, IN THE HEARTS OF HIS TEAM MATES, - PITCHING BULLETS, INSTEAD OF BULLET PASSES, - UNTIL THE FINAL VICTORY IS WON. Alston OWI
