“It’s My Right to Fight for America”
 
Robert M. Jones (1913–1994)
Honolulu, Hawaii, 1944
Color lithographic poster on paper - 20 x 15¾ inches 
 
A rare World War II U.S. recruitment poster designed to encourage military service among Japanese Americans in Hawaii. The dynamic composition depicts a uniformed Nisei soldier in an assertive, forward-leaning pose against a bold red ground, accompanied by the emphatic slogan “It’s My Right to Fight for America.” The message reflects the complicated wartime experience of Japanese Americans, many of whom sought to demonstrate loyalty to the United States through military service despite widespread suspicion and discrimination following the attack on Pearl Harbor.
 
Produced in Hawaii in 1944, the poster relates to recruitment efforts that ultimately filled the ranks of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the famed unit composed largely of second-generation Japanese American soldiers. The 442nd would become one of the most highly decorated units in U.S. military history for its size and length of service.
 
The poster was designed by American graphic artist Robert M. Jones, who worked in Hawaii during the war producing government graphics and recruitment imagery. Jones later gained national recognition in the postwar decades as a celebrated designer of record album covers, earning multiple Grammy Awards for his work.
 
Condition: small tear at left edge; minor creases and abrasions along horizontal fold; red slightly attenuated.