Veterans Day Posters

The shift in the effort made towards remembering the Korean War can also be seen in the Veterans Day posters issued by the US government. The 1992 Veterans Day poster does not show any obvious appearance of Korean War veterans. It depicts several military personnel and images related to WWII. In the top right of the poster is a WWII pilot; in the center is the iconic image of the lifting of the flag at Iwo Jima; near the bottom is the WWII Memorial at Pearl Harbor. All of these WWII related images depicted in the poster suggests that to be a veteran is to have served in WWII. This idea contradicts the statement at the top of the poster “Honoring All Who Served.”

This image shifts by the end of the decade, as shown in the 1999 Veterans Day poster. Right in the center of this poster is a picture of the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington DC. By picturing the Memorial right at the center of the poster, it shows the shift in whom Americans think of when they think of a veteran. At this time there is a significant increase in the awareness and recognition of the Korean War. This poster contrasts with the 1992 Veterans Day poster because now veterans of the Korean War were also remembered as veterans.