The Japanese surprise attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on 7 December 1941 propelled the United States into the Second World War. The date of the attack became a propaganda slogan used to fuel public support for America's entry into the war. The aerial attack on the harbour and runways of Oahu Island lasted less than two hours and significantly affected the US Pacific fleet for many months. The extensive loss of life (over two thousand officers and men of the Navy and the Marine Corps) shocked the American public and their outrage is reflected in Perlin's poster. His arresting poster designs celebrate and idealise American fighting men, offering the American public forceful, patriotic images drawn in a recognisably contemporary American style.
Against a stormy background rise the head and shoulders of a young man wearing a tattered United States naval tunic. He shakes his right fist towards the viewer. Below a bright explosion silhouettes the broken prow and superstructure of a bombarded ship. text: AVENGE DECEMBER 7. Bernard Perlin. OWI poster no. 15. Additional copies may be obtained upon request from the Division of Public Enquiries, Office of War Information, Washington DC. US Government Printing Office 1942. 0-491978.
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