Content note: Soldier drawn with exaggerated simian facial features as a caricature. This object is shown as it was published. Why
Only a Benny would say... I always relax when I travel
Cartoon: a grinning, simian-featured soldier talks on a train seat to a woman who looks alarmed, while a stern military policeman stands behind them; the speech bubble reads 'I always relax when I travel'. The tell for name-calling is 'Benny' as a label for careless talkers; the watching MP carries a mild fear-appeal of being caught.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1942
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Headquarters, Antiaircraft Artillery Command, Eastern Defense Command, Fort Totten, N.Y., U.S. Army (America's Alertmen)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Military
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Own forces
- Purpose
- Warn or inform
- Themes
- War and the military, Security and surveillance
- 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)
Headquarters, Antiaircraft Artillery Command, Eastern Defense Command, Fort Totten, N.Y., U.S. Army. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-479B (NAID 513950).
Text on the object
ONLY A BENNY WOULD SAY. . . I ALWAYS RELAX WHEN I TRAVEL DON'T BE A BENNY. . .THE PUBLIC JUDGES THE ARMY BY THE WAY YOU ACT [caption:] MP [imprint:] This is No. 15 in a series of posters on the wrong-doings of "BENNY THE BUNGLER." Don't be like him! [imprint:] Produced at Hq., Antiaircraft Artillery Command, E.D.C., Fort Totten, N.Y., by AMERICA'S ALERTMEN, official newspaper of the Command.
