Wilmeth Sidat-Singh, Fighter Pilot and Athlete (1943), Charles Alston's OWI memorial profile

Charles Alston drew this 1943 Office of War Information profile of Lieutenant Wilmeth Sidat-Singh in pencil. A portrait in flying gear sits among scenes of his wings ceremony, Syracuse football and his plane's crash into Lake Huron, and three captions tell his story to the end (NAID 535676).

A portrait and three scenes

The main image, per the archive, is a portrait of Sidat-Singh in flying gear. Around him are smaller scenes: receiving his wings, playing football for Syracuse, and his plane going into Lake Huron. Three captions carry the story, and the panel is signed "Alston OWI."

LIEUTENANT

WILMETH

SIDAT-SINGH

FIGHTER PILOT ~ ATHLETE

[...]

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

From the OWI cartoon artwork files

The drawing is held in Record Group 208 at the National Archives, in a series the archive cites as Artworks and Mockups for Cartoons Promoting the War Effort. FRAME files it as a cartoon, with the purpose "Persuade or win support" and the themes war and the military, and race and ethnicity.

The first caption says he was on the Washington, D.C. police force when he "HEARD THE CALL OF HIS COUNTRY" and won his wings in March 1943. The crash is dated only "MAY 9," with no year printed, and the body is said to have been found on June 27.

A profile that turns a death into a call

The archive calls it an exemplary-person profile and notes that testimonial is a weak fit, since Sidat-Singh is never quoted.

The last caption does the persuading. It keeps the sports language running, a warm-up before "HIS BIGGEST GAME," bullets in place of passes, and it ends on a charge to his teammates to fight "UNTIL THE FINAL VICTORY IS WON." The panel gives a real man's loss its due and then asks the reader to keep going. It does so with restraint: no enemy is named, and no one is told whom to hate.

Other Alston profiles for the OWI on this site include Paul Robeson - Actor, Artist, Athlete and Bessye J. Bearden - Club Woman, Social Worker. The Office of War Information hub covers the agency.