'Beware of the Triple Threat!!!' leaflet for American troops on Mindoro (1944-45)
Two-part leaflet in English. The left half is a typeset letter that opens 'Hi, Joe, I sure hate to be in your shoes!', lists three dangers on Mindoro (the tamaraw, the malaria mosquito and Japanese soldiers) and ends with a hole for gold serving as 'your grave'. The right half is a line cartoon of a soldier, a giant mosquito, a charging tamaraw and a rifleman. The chatty GI slang ('helluva', 'pal') puts a buddy's voice on a threat (plain-folks), and the list of deaths is the fear appeal.
- Date
- December 1944
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Empire of Japan (wartime psychological-warfare leaflet aimed at US troops on Mindoro; no issuer named on the leaflet)
- Region
- East Asia
- Country
- Empire of Japan
- Medium
- Leaflet
- Issuer type
- Military
- Regime
- Showa Japan
- Leader
- Kuniaki Koiso
- Audience
- Enemy forces
- Purpose
- Persuade or win support
- Theme
- War and the military
- Event
- Philippines Campaign 1944 45
- Techniques
- Fear appealPlain folks
- Source
- Unidentified Source blurred: contractors, cutouts, buried disclosure
- Source
- Wikimedia Commons (image from the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto, via Flickr), retrieved September 29, 2026
- Rights
- CC BY 2.0 (Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library via Flickr, reviewed); 1944-45 wartime leaflet
Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr and Wikimedia Commons
Text on the object
BEWARE OF THE TRIPLE THREAT!!! Hi, Joe, I sure hate to be in your shoes! Your commander certainly chose a helluva place to land. Don't you know what dangers confront you in Mindoro? They are the TAMARAOS, the ANOPHELES MOSQUITOES, and the JAPANESE SOLDIERS. The tamaraos are the fiercest animal on earth, found only in Mindoro. When you march through the jungles, look out! They come at you unawares and you're a dead man before you know what hit you. The Anopheles mosquitoes are veritable "malaria bombers." And believe me, they don't give a damn when or where they hit. And once hit, you're a goner. And the Japanese soldiers! They're even worse than the tamaraos or the Anopheles mosquitoes. You should know without my telling you. By the way, Joe. Mindoro means "mina de oro" or "mine of gold" in your lingo. Dig for some in your spare time. Even if you fail to locate any, the hole will still serve as your grave. So long, pal.
Read from the 1,280 px image. The scan clips a few letters at the left and right edges of the text block (for example 'anima', 'they', 'wil', 'ese soldiers'); these are read as the whole words shown, and line-break hyphens ('ANO-PHELES', 'JAPAN-ESE') are joined. The right half of the leaflet is a cartoon with no text.
