The Five Sullivan Brothers 'Missing in Action' off the Solomons: They Did Their Part
A photograph of five smiling sailors in U.S. Navy caps and peacoats around a ship's hatch marked 'V', under five blue stars, with the caption 'the five Sullivan brothers "missing in action" off the Solomons' and the line 'THEY did their part'. The five stars and the family of ordinary sailors transfer their sacrifice onto the viewer, with the underlined 'THEY' implying that the reader should do theirs.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1943
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Office of War Information (OWI Poster No. 42)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Mobilize or secure compliance
- Themes
- Home front, War and the military
- 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)
Office of War Information. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-777 (NAID 514265).
Text on the object
five blue stars the five Sullivan brothers "missing in action" off the Solomons THEY DID THEIR PART OWI Poster No. 42. 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-510254 (in photograph: U.S. NAVY on caps; V; 1-117 CREWS QUARTERS C-206-L; OPEN)
