Son Chan Valley, Vietnam: I'm sorry sir, but my men refuse to go

Photograph of a file of helmeted U.S. soldiers walking, some with peace-sign hand gestures, under a quotation attributed to a "Lieutenant in command of Company A": "I'm sorry sir, but my men refuse to go.... we cannot move out". A banner reads "The End" and a roundel carries the initials USSF. The tells are the unnamed quoted officer and the picture of a whole unit acting together, which present refusal as general.

Date: 1970
Period: Cold War
Made by: United States Servicemen's Fund (Cambridge, Massachusetts)
Region: North America
Country: United States
Medium: Poster
Issuer type: Movement
Regime: Nixon Administration
Leader: Richard Nixon
Audience: Domestic public
Purpose: Persuade or win support
Themes: War and the military, Home front
Event: Vietnam War
Techniques: Bandwagon Testimonial
Source: Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
Source: Library of Congress, retrieved October 2, 2026
Rights: U.S. publication without copyright notice; LoC: no known restrictions on publication
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print

Text on the object

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

Son Chan Valley, Vietnam
"I'M SORRY SIR,
BUT MY MEN REFUSE TO GO....
WE CANNOT MOVE OUT"
Lieutenant in command of Company A
USSF
UNITED STATES SERVICEMEN'S FUND
[street number] SCHOOL ST., CAMBRIDGE, MASS. 02138
THE END

Read from a 1024 px LoC scan; the address line in the roundel is very small and the street number is not legible.