# I Cease Resistance, a 1945 Pacific surrender pass for Japanese soldiers

I Cease Resistance is leaflet 17-J-1 from the Psychological Warfare Branch of U.S. Army Forces, Pacific, 1945. Its English tells American soldiers to treat the bearer humanely; its Japanese tells the bearer his life, food, shelter, and medical care are guaranteed by treaty. It never uses the word surrender.

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      Attention American Soldiers! I Cease Resistance (surrender pass, leaflet 17-J-1)

      I Cease Resistance, a 1945 Pacific surrender pass for Japanese soldiers
      1945 U.S. Army Forces, Pacific leaflet 17-J-1, "I Cease Resistance": a bilingual pass promising humane treatment to Japanese soldiers.

## Techniques named on the archive record

Euphemism / doublespeakTestimonial
      Date1945Made byU.S. Army Forces, Pacific, Psychological Warfare BranchMediumLeafletCountryUnited StatesRegimeTruman AdministrationSourceIdentified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they areSourceLibrary of Congress , retrieved September 27, 2026SourcePublic domain (U.S. government work; LOC: No known restrictions on publication) U.S. Army Forces, Pacific, Psychological Warfare Branch; Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, LOT 8093.
      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

  I Cease Resistance is leaflet 17-J-1 from the Psychological Warfare Branch of U.S. Army Forces, Pacific, 1945. Its English tells American soldiers to treat the bearer humanely; its Japanese tells the bearer his life, food, shelter, and medical care are guaranteed by treaty. It never uses the word surrender.

## What the leaflet prints

The pass speaks to two readers. The English block is addressed to the American soldier who will meet the man carrying it. The Japanese text, set vertically beside a photograph, is addressed to the carrier and explains what the English says. The photograph shows prisoners already in American hands, smoking, with their eyes masked.

ATTENTION AMERICAN SOLDIERS!

I CEASE RESISTANCE

THIS LEAFLET GUARANTEES HUMANE TREATMENT TO ANY JAPANESE DESIRING TO CEASE RESISTANCE. TAKE HIM IMMEDIATELY TO YOUR NEAREST COMMISSIONED OFFICER.

By Direction of the Commander in Chief.

17-J-1

FRAME transcription; a small Japanese caption under the photograph is illegible. Full record and Japanese text at propagandaarchive.org. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, LOT 8093.

The archive's machine translation of the Japanese, not checked by a fluent reader, says the English means the bearer "is no longer an enemy," and that "by international treaty his life and food, clothing and shelter, as well as medical care, are of course fully guaranteed." The text adds that the picture shows comrades who have already come over.

## The words chosen

The archive tags the leaflet with euphemism and testimonial. The euphemism is the phrase "cease resistance," chosen in place of "surrender." That is a deliberate kindness to the reader's pride, and the archive's description adds that the prisoners' eyes were masked to protect their families in Japan. Both choices suggest what the writers believed stood between a soldier and the decision to stop fighting: shame, and fear for the people at home. The testimonial is the photograph of men who already crossed.

## The promise

A surrender pass is a written promise from an army to its enemy, and it binds the army that signs it. This one is signed by direction of the Commander in Chief and orders American soldiers to deliver the bearer to an officer. Its claim on the reader's trust rests on international treaty, which the Japanese text names. Whether a given soldier was treated as the pass promised is a matter for the record of each capture, and this page does not have that record.

Compare the Korean War safe-conduct pass six years later, signed with Ridgway's name, which makes the same promise. For American wartime messaging about the Japanese enemy at home, see the anti-Japanese WWII hub.

## Sources

- FRAME object record, "Attention American Soldiers! I Cease Resistance (surrender pass, leaflet 17-J-1)," 1945. U.S. Army Forces, Pacific, Psychological Warfare Branch.

- Library of Congress, item 2008676397, Prints and Photographs Division, LOT 8093, retrieved by the archive 27 September 2026. Rights as recorded: public domain (U.S. government work); no known restrictions on publication.

Canonical: https://americanpropaganda.org/collection/i-cease-resistance-leaflet-1945/