Content note: Shows a dead U.S. soldier face down in the surf with blood in the water. This object is shown as it was published. Why
Is his finger pointing at us? Have we failed to do our part?
Home-front poster: a dead U.S. soldier in helmet lies face down in surf beside his rifle, one hand extended, under a red sunset sky. The headline asks whether he is 'pointing at us' and the lower line asks whether civilians 'failed to do our part'. The technique is a fear-appeal built on guilt, with the casualty as the argument.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1941
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Bressler Editorial Cartoons Co., New York (artist Packer)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Mixed
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Mobilize or secure compliance
- Themes
- War and the military, Home front
- 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)
Bressler Editorial Cartoons Co.. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-1108 (NAID 514635).
Text on the object
IS HIS FINGER POINTING AT US? [signature: Packer] HAVE WE FAILED TO DO OUR PART? [imprint: LITHO IN U. S. A.] [imprint: Copyright, BRESSLER EDITORIAL CARTOONS CO., NEW YORK] [imprint: B-163 (printer's mark, partly legible)]
