Fight with tools
Army recruiting poster for mechanically skilled men: a civilian machinist in red is shown behind a soldier in black working the same drill press, under the headline 'fight with tools'. The pairing carries the worker's trade over into military service (transfer), using ordinary tradesmen as the model (plain folks).
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1942
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- U.S. Army, Recruiting Publicity Bureau
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Military
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Recruit
- Themes
- War and the military, Labor
- 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 and Records Administration, Record Group 44, World War II Posters, retrieved October 4, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. government work)
U.S. Army. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-255 (NAID 513697).
Text on the object
fight WITH tools Your Skill Can Help the U. S. Army. If You Have Mechanical or Technical Experience and Are Between 18 and 44, Inclusive, You Can Become a Specialist In— U.S. ARMY Air Forces - Signal Corps - Ordnance Dept. Auto Mechanics, Radio and Telegraph Operators, Sheet Metal Workers, Cable Splicers, Machinists, Toolmakers, Electricians, Instrument Repairmen RECRUITING AND INDUCTION SERVICE "KEEP 'EM FLYING!" [imprint: P-41-RPB-6-18-42-25M]
