Forensic Research Archive of Manipulation and Exploitation
"That won't stop us - we'll be back!!", 1943 US cartoon: A charcoal drawing shows survivors in a lifeboat on heavy seas

"That won't stop us - we'll be back!!"

A charcoal drawing shows survivors in a lifeboat on heavy seas, a torpedoed ship sinking behind them, while a Black seaman raises a clenched fist. The caption makes the defiance explicit; the tell is a weak fit for glittering generalities, using resolve and shared endurance as the appeal.

Propaganda techniques used in this cartoon

Glittering generalities
Date
1943
Period
Second World War
Made by
Office of War Information (cartoon artwork; artist Charles Alston)
Region
North America
Country
United States
Medium
Cartoon
Issuer type
State
Regime
Roosevelt Administration
Leader
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Audience
Domestic public
Purpose
Mobilize or secure compliance
Themes
War and the military, Home front, Race and ethnicity
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 208, Cartoon Artworks and Mockups (NAID 535594), retrieved October 3, 2026
Rights
Public domain (U.S. government work)
Office of War Information. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 208, 208-COM-87 (NAID 535629).

Text on the object

Original (English) · read from the image, not independently checked

THAT WON'T STOP US -------- WE'LL BE BACK !!

alston

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