Content note: A profile sheet whose captions use the period term 'Negro' for Black airmen and officers, and which depicts an enemy aircraft shot down in flames, as published. This object is shown as it was published. Why
Lieut. Col. Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., Air Fighter
A smiling pilot's portrait in helmet and goggles is surrounded by small scenes: a boy saluting an officer, a diploma presentation, and an aircraft shot down in flames. Captions describe his family, West Point class and squadron. The profile selects favourable facts to present one man as a model.
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
- Recruit
- 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, RG 208, Artworks and Mockups for Cartoons Promoting the War Effort, retrieved October 3, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. government work)
Office of War Information. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 208, 208-COM-235 (NAID 535698).
Text on the object
Son of a famous soldier, young Davis was virtually born to the Army—his father is Brigadier General Davis, highest ranking Negro officer in the U.S. Army! LIEUT. COL. BENJAMIN O. DAVIS, Jr. AIR FIGHTER Commander of the first Negro squadron in the history of the U.S. Army Air Force, Lt. Col. Davis and his fighting pilots are in the thick of the blitz against the Axis! Every inch a soldier, Davis is a West Point man, class of '36. Alston OWI
