# A Black Mark for the Squad (1918), U.S. Army Service Series No. 10

A Black Mark for the Squad is U.S. Army Service Series No. 10, signed Gordon Grant. A squad stands at attention with a blank yellow panel marked "A.W.O.L." where one man should be. The archive dates it to 1918 only from the uniforms.

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- A Black Mark for the Squad (1918), U.S. Army Service Series No. 10

      A Black Mark for the Squad: A.W.O.L.

      A Black Mark for the Squad (1918), U.S. Army Service Series No. 10
      Gordon Grant's Army Service Series No. 10 leaves a yellow A.W.O.L. gap in a squad at attention. Dated 1918 from the uniforms. NARA RG 4, 4-P-263.

## Techniques named on the archive record

Identity fusionFear appeal
      Date1918Made byU.S. Army (Service Series No. 10)MediumPosterCountryUnited StatesRegimeWilson AdministrationNARANAID 512439SourceIdentified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they areSourceU.S. National Archives (NARA), RG 4 (U.S. Food Administration), World War I Posters (NAID 512439) , retrieved October 3, 2026SourceNARA Unrestricted; hosted by owner decision U.S. Army (Service Series No. 10). National Archives and Records Administration, 4-P-263.
      Object, image, and catalog record from the FRAME archive. Text on this page is CC BY 4.0. Image rights are as the archive records.

      Full record at propagandaarchive.org

  A Black Mark for the Squad is U.S. Army Service Series No. 10, signed Gordon Grant. A squad stands at attention with a blank yellow panel marked "A.W.O.L." where one man should be. The archive dates it to 1918 only from the uniforms.

## The gap in the line

The picture is a squad of uniformed American soldiers at attention. Where one of them should stand, there is a blank yellow panel with four letters on it. The text is short enough to give whole.

SERVICE SERIES No. 10

A.W.O.L.

A BLACK MARK

FOR THE SQUAD

Gordon Grant

Transcription in the FRAME record; "Gordon Grant" is the artist's signature as read from the image. Full record at propagandaarchive.org.

## Who it spoke to

The issuer is the U.S. Army, and the audience field reads "Own forces." This is a poster for men already in uniform, with the purpose recorded as "Mobilize or secure compliance." The record dates it 1918, and says that date is an inference from the uniforms; nothing printed on the sheet gives a year. The National Archives copy is filed in Record Group 4, the Food Administration's World War I Posters series (NAID 512439), local identifier 4-P-263.

The World War I home-front hub leaves the Army's "Service Series" posters out of its gallery and describes them as addressed to soldiers already in uniform.

## How it works

The archive tags identity fusion and fear appeal. The missing man is not shown being punished. His absence is shown as a stain on everyone who stayed, and the phrase "black mark" is aimed at the squad, not at him. The pressure the poster applies comes from the men beside him.

A soldier who has taken an oath owes his post, and an army may remind him of it. What the sheet leaves out is worth noting all the same: it cites no article of war, names no penalty, and gives no reason a man might be absent. It works through shame and loyalty to the unit. A later Army sheet, The Little Jap Is a Big Job!, was also issued as an official Army poster, with a different target. For civilians the pressure in 1918 was rougher: the Wilson administration essay describes a volunteer league that joined the "slacker" raids on draft evaders that year.

## Sources

- FRAME object record, A Black Mark for the Squad: A.W.O.L., 1918 (date inferred from uniforms). U.S. Army, Service Series No. 10, artist Gordon Grant. Source classed as openly identified.

- U.S. National Archives, RG 4, World War I Posters, series NAID 512439, catalog item 512701, local identifier 4-P-263, retrieved by the archive 3 October 2026. Rights as recorded: NARA unrestricted.

Canonical: https://americanpropaganda.org/collection/a-black-mark-for-the-squad-awol-1918/