---
title: I Am a Soldier of the United States (Service Series No. 12)
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/i-am-a-soldier-of-the-united-states-service-series-no-12-1917/
description: 'A saluting soldier in campaign hat and tunic stands against a red brush-stroke ground above a first-person pledge: he knows his trade.'
section: Collection
---

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3. I Am a Soldier of the United States (Service Series No. 12)

[![I Am a Soldier of the United States, 1917 US poster: A saluting soldier in campaign hat and tunic stands against a red](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/i-am-a-soldier-of-the-united-states-service-series-no-12-1917.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/i-am-a-soldier-of-the-united-states-service-series-no-12-1917.jpg)

# I Am a Soldier of the United States (Service Series No. 12)

A saluting soldier in campaign hat and tunic stands against a red brush-stroke ground above a first-person pledge: he knows his trade, performs his duties 'smartly and cheerfully', has 'no use for kickers' and will stay until discharged. The tell is the first-person voice, which asks the reader to adopt the soldier's attitude as their own; 'kickers' labels complainers as outside the group.

## Propaganda techniques used in this poster

[Identity fusion](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/identity-fusion/) [Glittering generalities](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/glittering-generalities/)

## Text on the object

Original (English) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
SERVICE SERIES No. 12

I am a soldier of the United States.  I know my trade and am learning something more every day.  I perform my duties smartly and cheerfully and have no use for kickers.  I shall stick until I am told that I am no longer needed and until I receive an honorable discharge.
```

[← Hunger: For Three Years America Has Fought Starvation in Belgium](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/hunger-america-has-fought-starvation-in-belgium-1917/) [I Volunteer to Help Win the War by Producing and Saving Food and Feeds →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/i-volunteer-to-help-win-the-war-county-agents-1917/)

## More propaganda examples that use the same techniques

- [A Little American's Promise](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/a-little-americans-promise-1917/) (United States · 1917 · Identity fusion, Transfer)
- [All Together! Enlist in the Navy](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/all-together-enlist-in-the-navy-1917/) (United States · 1917 · Bandwagon, Identity fusion)
- [Members of U.S. Food Administration: America Has Promised to Feed the Hungry Millions of Europe, Waste Nothing](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/america-food-pledge-20-million-tons-1917-1919/) (United States · 1917 · Identity fusion)
- [Do Your Duty. Join the U.S. Marines. Help Them Defend America on Land and Sea](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/do-your-duty-join-the-us-marines-1917-1919/) (United States · 1917 · Glittering generalities, Identity fusion)
- [50-50 (The Job of Beating Up the Hun)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/fifty-fifty-service-series-11-1917/) (United States · 1917 · Name-calling, Identity fusion)
- [Food Will Win the War: Member of United States Food Administration (Pledge Card)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/food-will-win-the-war-member-pledge-card-1917-1919/) (United States · 1917 · Identity fusion, Bandwagon)
- [Hit the Bull's Eye! Are You on This List? Get Your Name in the Circle: It's the Ring of Liberty](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/hit-the-bulls-eye-ring-of-liberty-1917/) (United States · 1917 · Bandwagon, Identity fusion)
- [If You Want to Fight! Join the Marines](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/if-you-want-to-fight-join-the-marines-1917/) (United States · 1917 · Identity fusion, Transfer)