---
title: I'm counting on you! Don't discuss troop movements, ship sailings, war equipment
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/im-counting-on-you-1943/
description: Uncle Sam in stars-and-stripes hat looks straight out at the viewer with a finger held to his lips. Tagged by technique, with source and rights.
section: Collection
---

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3. I'm counting on you! Don't discuss troop movements, ship sailings, war

[![I'm counting on you! Don't discuss troop movements, ship sailings, war equipment, 1943 US poster: Uncle Sam](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/im-counting-on-you-1943.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/im-counting-on-you-1943.jpg)

# I'm counting on you! Don't discuss troop movements, ship sailings, war equipment

Uncle Sam in stars-and-stripes hat looks straight out at the viewer with a finger held to his lips. The headline 'I'm counting on you!' and the list 'Don't discuss: troop movements, ship sailings, war equipment' make a personal appeal from a national symbol to keep quiet. The technique is transfer of the figure's authority onto the request; the fear is implied rather than shown.

## Propaganda techniques used in this poster

[Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/) [Fear appeal](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/fear-appeal/)

## Text on the object

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

```
I'M COUNTING ON YOU!

DON'T DISCUSS:
TROOP MOVEMENTS
SHIP SAILINGS · WAR EQUIPMENT

[signature:] L. Helguera

[imprint:] OWI Poster No. 78 - 28½" x 40". Additional copies may be obtained upon request from the Division of Public Inquiries, Office of War Information, Washington, D.C.
[imprint:] U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1943-O-[illegible]
```

[← I'll carry mine too!](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ill-carry-mine-too-1943/) [In the face of obstacles - Courage. Infantry. United States Army. →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/in-the-face-of-obstacles-courage-infantry-1943/)

## More propaganda examples that use the same techniques

- [Fragments of the Abydos king list from Ramesses II's temple, in the British Museum: rows of royal cartouches](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/abydos-king-list-ramesses-ii-temple-british-museum/) (New Kingdom Egypt · 0000 · Card stacking, Transfer)
- [Clay cylinder with the Ehulhul inscription of Nabonidus, king of Babylon, describing work on three temples](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/cylinder-nabonidus-ehulhul-inscription-555bce/) (Neo Babylonian Empire · 0000 · Transfer)
- [Seated limestone statue of Hatshepsut as king, with feminine royal titles on the throne, reassembled from fragments broken up at Deir el-Bahri](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/hatshepsut-seated-statue-limestone-met-1458bce/) (New Kingdom Egypt · 0000 · Transfer, Testimonial)
- [Glazed-brick panel with a striding lion, from Babylon (reign of Nebuchadnezzar II)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ishtar-gate-panel-striding-lion-nebuchadnezzar-ii-604bce/) (Neo Babylonian Empire · 0000 · Transfer)
- [Limestone relief block of Ramesses II wearing the White Crown, a jubilee relief from his temple at Herakleopolis](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/jubilee-relief-ramesses-ii-herakleopolis-met-05-4-256/) (New Kingdom Egypt · 0000 · Transfer)
- [Line drawing of the Great Kadesh battle relief on the walls of the Ramesseum, from Breasted's History of Egypt](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/kadesh-relief-ramesseum-breasted-drawing-1275bce/) (New Kingdom Egypt · 0000 · Card stacking, Transfer). Content note: A drawing of an Egyptian royal battle relief showing Hittite soldiers and horses killed and drowned, as the king's monument presented the battle; it is a one-sided image made by the winning side's own account.
- [Gypsum alabaster slab inscribed in cuneiform, from Nimrud (Kalhu), reign of Ashurnasirpal II](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/nimrud-slab-ashurnasirpal-ii-inscription-883bce/) (Neo Assyrian Empire · 0000 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Egyptian alabaster jar inscribed with the name of Xerxes the Great in four languages (Old Persian, Elamite, Babylonian, Egyptian), 486 to 466 BCE](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/xerxes-jar-four-languages-486bce/) (Achaemenid Empire · 0000 · Transfer)