To make men free
Navy WAVES recruiting poster: a uniformed woman in a Navy cap in front of a large American flag. The headline 'To make men free' and a quoted line promising 'the gratitude of a nation when victory is ours' rest on abstract ideals and on flag imagery: glittering generalities and transfer.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1944
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- U.S. Navy (artist John Falter, USNR)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Military
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Recruit
- Themes
- War and the military, Gender and suffrage
- 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)
U.S. Navy (artist John Falter, USNR). National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-249 (NAID 513691).
Text on the object
TO MAKE MEN FREE ..."you will share the gratitude of a nation when victory is ours" ENLIST IN THE WAVES TODAY [on cap: U.S. NAVY] [signature: JOHN FALTER USNR] [imprint: ORDER NO. 74] [imprint: NAVPERS-NRB-41986-2 May 44-61M]
