"Remember, They Are Giving Their Lives!"
Uncle Sam holds a 'Liberty Bond' in one hand and points with the other to a battlefield where helmeted American soldiers advance through shellfire and one lies fallen. The caption underlines 'they' to set the soldiers' risk against the buyer's outlay. The tell is the guilt-by-contrast pairing of a bond with a casualty, with the national personification issuing the reminder.
Propaganda techniques used in this artwork
- Date
- 1917
- Period
- First World War
- Made by
- U.S. Treasury Department (Liberty Loan campaign; original artwork signed Orr)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Artwork
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Wilson Administration
- Leader
- Woodrow Wilson
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Fundraise
- Themes
- War and the military, Economy and finance
- Event
- World War I
- Regime
- Wilson administration
- Leader
- Woodrow Wilson
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- U.S. National Archives (NARA), RG 4 (U.S. Food Administration), World War I Posters (NAID 512439), retrieved October 3, 2026
- Rights
- NARA Unrestricted; hosted by owner decision
U.S. Treasury Department (Liberty Loan campaign; original artwork signed Orr). National Archives and Records Administration, 4-P-282.
Text on the object
"REMEMBER, THEY ARE GIVING THEIR LIVES!" LIBERTY BOND ORR
'THEY' is underlined in the original. 'ORR' is the artist's signature; a faint pencil number at lower left is an archival mark and is omitted.
