A 1918 American Expeditionary Forces poster prints a statement from General John J. Pershing thanking the Services of Supply for answering the First Army's demands. National Archives 512615.
What the sheet prints
The poster is a portrait of the commander and a short message under his name. The artist signed the drawing "Oberhardt" beneath the portrait. The message speaks to the rear-area organization that moved troops, equipment, and supplies to the front, the Services of Supply, and credits it with a share in the First Army's recent operations.
Pershing Says:
"I want the S.O.S. to know how the First Army appreciates the prompt response made to every demand for men, equipment, supplies, and transportation, necessary to carry out the recent operations. Hearty congratulations. The S.O.S. shares the success with us."
Oberhardt [artist's signature beneath the portrait]
Who issued it
The maker line is the American Expeditionary Forces, Services of Supply, 1918, during the Wilson administration. The archive took the image from Wikimedia Commons on 26 September 2026, where the file is credited to the National Archives under number 512615, and records it as public domain. The record does not name the operation the message refers to.
How to read it
This is a testimonial, and an unusually plain one. The speaker is named, his rank is obvious, and the audience is his own soldiers. A commander thanking the people behind the line, in his own name, is about as honest as a morale poster gets.
What the sheet leaves out is any measure. "Prompt response made to every demand" is praise, not a report, and a reader cannot tell from the paper how well the supply line actually worked. Morale material is allowed to be warm. It should not be mistaken for an audit.
The case study Briefed in the building, introduced as independent uses this poster as a contrast: here the Army's voice is labeled as the Army's voice, which is the part later campaigns dropped. The same general appears in another 1918 sheet, Pershing's Crusaders. The period is covered in the Wilson administration essay.
Sources
- FRAME object record, "Pershing Says: The S.O.S. Shares the Success With Us," 1918. American Expeditionary Forces (Services of Supply). Wikimedia Commons, retrieved by the archive 26 September 2026. Rights as recorded: public domain (per Wikimedia Commons), U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA 512615).
