Legend of how Kilroy was here starts is with James J. Kilroy, a shipyard inspector during WWII. He chalked the words on bulkheads to show that he had been there and inspected the riveting in the newly constructed ship. To the troops in those ships, however, it was a complete mystery — all they knew for sure was that he had been there first. As a joke, they began placing the graffiti wherever they (the US forces) landed or went, claiming it was already there when they arrived. Kilroy became the US super-GI who always got there first — wherever GIs went. It became a challenge to place the logo in the most unlikely places. It was said to be atop Mt. Everest, the Statue of Liberty, the underside of the Arch de Triumphe, and scrawled in the dust on the moon. An outhouse was built for the exclusive use of Truman, Stalin, and Churchill who were there for the Potsdam conference. The first person to use it was Stalin. He emerged and asked his aide (in Russian), Who is Kilroy? WWII UDT (Under Water Demolition - later Navy Seals) divers swam ashore on Japanese held islands in the Pacific to prepare the beaches for the coming landings by US troops. They were sure to be the first GIs there! On more than one occasion, they reported seeing Kilroy was here scrawled on make shift signs or as graffiti on enemy pillboxes. They, in turn, often left similar signs for the next incoming GIs. The tradition continued in every US military theater of operations throughout and following WWII. In 1946 the Transit Company of America held a contest offering a prize of a real trolley car to the person who could prove himself to be the real Kilroy. Almost forty men stepped forward to make that claim, but James Kilroy brought along officials from the shipyard and some of the riveters to help prove his authenticity. James Kilroy won the prize of the trolley car which he gave it to his nine children as a Christmas gift and set it up in their front yard for a playhouse.
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 02:19:44 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015