---
title: If soldiers did this... What would become of us?
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/if-soldiers-did-this-what-would-become-of-us-1941/
description: 'Anti-absenteeism sheet: a soldier in a jungle bivouac yawns and stretches in his blanket, saying he does not feel like fighting today.'
section: Collection
---

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3. If soldiers did this... What would become of us?

[![If soldiers did this... What would become of us?, 1941 US poster: Anti-absenteeism sheet](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/if-soldiers-did-this-what-would-become-of-us-1941.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/if-soldiers-did-this-what-would-become-of-us-1941.jpg)

# If soldiers did this... What would become of us?

Anti-absenteeism sheet: a soldier in a jungle bivouac yawns and stretches in his blanket, saying he does not feel like fighting today. The headline asks what would become of 'US' if soldiers did the same. The technique is faint: a hypothetical comparison between soldier and worker, with the pun on U.S. and 'us' fusing the viewer with the nation.

## Propaganda techniques used in this poster

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

## Text on the object

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

```
IF soldiers did this...
HO-HUM---
I DON'T FEEL
LIKE FIGHTIN'
TODAY
WHAT WOULD
BECOME OF US?
[signature:] PACHER
PRINTED IN U.S.A.
Copyright, "VICTORY-BUILDERS" Division BRESSLER EDITORIAL CARTOONS, Inc., NEW YORK
```

[← If machines could "talk"... Take care!](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/if-machines-could-talk-take-care-1941/) [If these Nazi war workers dared speak, they'd say- "Americans, protect your system of individual freedom-Dictatorship means slavery-not security." →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/if-these-nazi-war-workers-dared-speak-1941/)

## 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)
- [I Am a Soldier of the United States (Service Series No. 12)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/i-am-a-soldier-of-the-united-states-service-series-no-12-1917/) (United States · 1917 · Identity fusion, Glittering generalities)