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Sidney White, Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia [1943]

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: 930th Aviation Engineers
  • Location of Service: Fort Dix, New Jersey; Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri; Lexington, Kentucky; Gower Field, Boise, Idaho; Geiger Field, Spokane, Washington; North Africa; China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/31890

View full service history

"My graphic voice...was destined to continue to find expression through personal work, often in illustrations satirizing army life." (Memoir, page 18)

Eighteen-year-old Army private Sid White caught a big break early in his service career when he was assigned to a topographical drawing class at the University of Kentucky. White got to poke fun at some of the absurdities of GI life in illustrating instruction manuals, before he wound up in a unit of engineers building runways for B-29s in the China-Burma-India Theater. There, his artwork took a more serious turn when he executed designs for modifying aircraft and command quarters. His sketches from his travels through Northern Africa and in India and Burma complement the forthright memoir of a man who admits he never fired a shot in World War II.

[ Photo Album ]

More Resources

[ Army Years, 1943-1946: Reflecting on life-shaping events and episodes in my life ]
[ Letter and sketch addressed to "Folks" [May 29, 1945] ]
[ Collage of four cartoons. "This was probably drawn in Boise, at Gowen Field, when I first had access to drawing materials" [1943] ]
[ Illustration for camouflage manual, Gowen Field [Spring 1943] ]
[ Illustration for camouflage manual, Gowen Field [Spring 1943] ]
[ Lampoon. Geiger Field. "Jones, eh? How do yez spell it?" [Fall 1943] ]

Show more resources (19)

[ Caricature. "Model Engineer." [Fall 1943] ]
[ Cartoon, "Bunk life." Geiger Field. [Fall 1943] ]
[ Cartoon. "Haircut scene." [Fall 1943] ]
[ Sketch. "On the move." Hasting Mill. [Fall 1943] ]
[ Pencil drawing, "North African Satire," Kalaikundah, India ]
[ Pencil Drawing, "Wanna buy knife?", Kalaikundah, India [1944] ]
[ Brush, Ink, "Dream About to Be Shattered," Hasting Mill [1945] ]
[ Colored pencil drawing, "Facilitator," Kalaikundah, India [1944] ]
[ Pencil drawing, "Coolie," Kalaikundah, India [1944] ]
[ 22" x 30" pencil drawing, "Cow Paddy Factory," Kalaikundah [1944] ]
[ Cartoon lampooning Sgt. Schaector, Kalaikundah [1944] ]
[ Sketch of aft section of a B-24 modified to seat 22 passengers, Bangalore, India [8/27/1945] ]
[ Chowringee Road, Calcutta, India [1945] ]
[ The Hastings-Calcutta Run [1945] ]
[ Drawing of a G.I. Being pulled along in a rickshaw, India [1945] ]
[ Drawing, "Looking for Business," India [1945] ]
[ Drawing, "Ah, fruit!" India [1945] ]
[ 16" x 17" Ink, brush and pencil drawing, Hastings Mill. "Flow chart" [1945] ]
[ 18" x 24" ink, brush and pencil drawing, Hastings Mill. "VJ Day Announcements" [1945] ]

About this Item

Title

  • Sidney D. White Collection

Names

  • White, Sidney D.

Home State

  • Washington (State)

Headings

  • -  White, Sidney D.
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Repository

  • Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • White

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Unit of Service: 930th Aviation Engineers
    • Location of Service: Fort Dix, New Jersey; Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri; Lexington, Kentucky; Gower Field, Boise, Idaho; Geiger Field, Spokane, Washington; North Africa; China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater
    • Highest Rank: Sergeant
    • Dates of Service: 1943-1946
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: veteran

Materials

  • Computer File: CD [1 item] -- Electronic file of manuscript (collected 2005-09-07)
  • Manuscript: Memoirs [1 item] -- (collected unknown)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/31890

Cite as

  • Sidney D. White Collection (AFC/2001/001/31890), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

Using VHP Material in Publication or Exhibition

The Veterans History Project (VHP) at the Library of Congress collects, preserves and makes accessible the firsthand recollections of U.S. military veterans who served from World War I through more recent conflicts and peacekeeping missions, so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand what they saw, did and felt during their service. The Veterans History Project Collection includes oral histories along with documentary materials such as original letters, diaries, photographs, and memoirs.

Veterans and interviewers contribute these materials to the Library for scholarly and educational purposes, retaining any copyright they may hold. Therefore, permission must be obtained before using the interview or other materials in exhibition or publication. Researchers or others who would like to make further use of these materials should contact the Veterans History Project for assistance.

As a publicly supported institution, the Library generally does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot give or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute material in its collections. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item from the Library’s collections and for securing any necessary permissions rests with persons desiring to use the item.

Please contact us with questions.

Obtaining Copies of VHP Materials

In order for VHP materials to be duplicated, we must receive written permission from the interviewee for you to obtain a copy of the recording unless the proposed use is limited to personal use, research, or other uses permissible by copyright law. If the interviewee is deceased, their next-of-kin may grant written permission.

Please contact VHP for assistance if you need to contact a veteran for permission to use their materials in exhibition or publication, or if you have received permission from the veteran and need access to high-resolution copies of VHP collection materials.

Citing VHP Materials

Please use the following formats when citing Veterans History Project materials (substituting the appropriate name and collection ID number).

Materials as a whole:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Manuscript material:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Memoirs (MS02), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Transcript (MS04), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Correspondence (MS01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Recording:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Audio recording (SR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Video recording (MV01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Photograph:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH01), photographer unknown, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH03-PH14), Ralph Williams photographer, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Computer file:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Computer file (CF01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Artifact:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Artifact (AR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

White, Sidney D. Sidney D. White Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.31890/.

APA citation style:

White, S. D. (1943) Sidney D. White Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.31890/.

MLA citation style:

White, Sidney D. Sidney D. White Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.31890/>.