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The attached article is from the Winter 2003 Quarterly
magazine of MCAA (Marine Corps Aviation Association) known
as The Yellow Sheet. I thought you would find it interesting.
. LCol Ted Read USMC (Retired) This great story by By CDR Chuck Roots, USN Command Chaplain, Camp Lemonier, Djibouti, Africa, starts with "One of the most beloved characters that transcended its military origins is Kilroy, most notably remembered with nearly iconic reverie by those who fought in World War 11, dubbed The Big One." |
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Read the complete article. |
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Canada's Kilroy,
Herbie
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Click image for larger view |
See the cartoon. Note the close resemblance to Kilroy Bing Coughlan and "Herbie" William G. "Bing" Coughlin MBE was a member of the Princess Louise Dragoon Guards and saw action in the Sicily invasion. He was later a Sergeant on the staff of Maple Leaf, the Canadian Army newspaper. His character, "Herbie" came to typify the ordinary Canadian private, so much so that Canadian soldiers became known as "Herbies", a tradition that in some units, is carried on to this day. Herbie and this Army," by William Garnet "Bing" Coughlin, first appeared in the Maple Leaf in the spring of 1944 in Naples, Italy. |
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Bing's chinless hero Herbie became a particular icon at the front and "Herbie wuz here" graffiti marked the path of the Canadian advance. In 1944 Herbie was voted "Canadian Man of the Year" by the troops Cheers Editor's note: While American GIs were scrawling "Kilroy Was Here" all over the world, Chad, saying "Wot no ____ " (whatever was in short supply) was being scribbled by English warriors. See Wot no Engines? or KILROY AND CHAD WERE EVERYWHERE. Meanwhile, Canadians had their own. Here is a wonderful cartoon showing Herbie. |
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Kilroy on MASH!
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Click image for larger view Courtesy 20th Century Fox |
Eric Harwell
wrote: Just a quick addendum to the post by Laryssa
Nyland concerning the appearance of 'Kilroy Was Here' on
an episode of MASH. After having purchased Season 4
on DVD, I got to see the unedited version of the episode.
(The reruns of MASH are edited; you would not believe how
much is taken out so room can be made for more commercials)
Anyway, the scene was originally a sight gag: |
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B.J. Hunnicutt (Mike Farrell) was peeking out of one of
the windows on the bus, much in the way the Kilroy drawing
portrays, when Hawkeye (Alan Alda) writes the immortal "Kilroy
was here" in the dust on the glass. The screen shot and sighting are from 20th
Century Fox's "M*A*S*H - Season Four (Collector's Edition)".
For fans of the show, seasons 1 through 4 are widely available.
Editor's note: This is an excellent example of how Kilroy was omnipresent and known even during the Korean war and in the time MASH was filmed. This use of the graffiti needed no explanation. Thanks Eric! |
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Kilroy on a Good Cause! |
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From Tom Kercher I Saw You Safety and Scholarship Organization is an 501(c)(3) public charity committed to reducing the deaths and injuries caused by youthful drivers. They offer parents a way to keep tabs on their teenage drivers. The program, based upon rofessional drivers bumper stickers that ask, "How's My Driving?" Motorists can report bad, dangerous or, hopefully, good driving to the organization which passes it on to the parents. They currently offer the service for $20 per year but hope that insurance companies will sponsor the program. Farmers Insurance Group is funding a pilot program now in 13 California communities. The foundation executive director Holly Odon says they plan to eventually offer $5000 college scholarships to enrolled teenagers based upon their good reported driving records and general citizenship. For
more information, contact Holly Odon added: "Funny, isn't it, that these kids we are trying to keep safe have probably never even heard of our beloved WW2 Kilroy, but the whole reason we used him is because we were aware of the comfort this character brought to so many of our soldiers who were away from their homes and at great personal risk. Thanks for your message, and keep up your good work! Kind regards, Holly Odom" |
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Photo by John K. Tucker, Illinois Natural History Survey. |
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I am a Vietnam veteran (US Navy) and my dad is a WW II veteran (again US Navy). I am also a biologist with the Illinois Natural History Survey. Recently, myself and my collegues encountered a large snapping turtle that was a lover not a fighter. This turtle refused to bite or strike despite being trapped, then measured and weighed. When placed on the laboratory floor it would run for it rather than turning to charge as other snappers do. Although may be it did not have the fighting spirit of the American serviceman, past and present, the turtle did an excellent kilroy imitation while it watched us work. I attach an image of the turtle to this message. Feel free to use it as you wish. My younger graduate student collegues had never heard of the Kilroy legend. They have now. It is a shame that young people seem to know nothing about the history of the sacrifice made by so many Americans to help keep them and much of the world free. There is almost no knowledge of the cultural aspects of the wars that made this country. Mention Ernie Pyle, and they think you are talking about some affliction of the rear end. I might mention also that the turtle was returned to its natural habitat, where it is hopefully doing what large male snapping turtles do. Sincerely, John K. Tucker |
 Closeup up of ad at bottom of back page |
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Recently I purchased a record collection. Among the records I found a flyer from a local, Pensacola, radio station, WBSR. Dating from 1966, it lists the top 40 hits. On the flyer I spied a Kilroy. It is in an ad for Uncle Homer's Hobbyland. As far as I know that place is long gone. Kilroy, of course, lives on. Bob Cook, Pensacola, FL |
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Kilroy from AlCan
to Utah Beach
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Click image for larger view |
These wonderful drawings were found in an old WWII scrap book left by the commanding officer of the 145th Engineer Combat Battalion. They were drawn by an unknown member. They are real Kilroys in various poses as they fought their way across France and Germany From Andy Miller
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When I was a kid in the early 70's and
attending school, it happened almost everyday when I entered
a classroom that someone had put the kilroy figure on
somebody's desk. It was always done in pencil and was,
of course, removed the same day by the cleaners. The funny
thing is that I come from Denmark which was NOT occupied
by the US Army at the end of WWII. We were liberated by
the British forces. But still; Kilroy was also here. Later
during my national service in the Army he was all over.
Properly brought over by American soldiers with whom we
worked closely together Also from time to time he still
pops up here and there so here by us he is still very
much alive.
I made a sketch as I remember it. Please
note the fence. It is the only place I have seen that
but it was always there. I have come to think of that
I also saw him on a few vehicles when I was in the army.
I don't know if that was inspired by the American troops
we often trained with. But it was on a joint NATO exercise
I saw it. I must have been in 1983. I remember Kilroy
on the bumper of two trucks (Danish ones that is). There
was no fence there. In a way I think it is a fine way to pay tribute to the American forces who helped liberate us back in '45. So long live Kilroy. Erik Day Poulsen |
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Kilroy in Video Games
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Here is a picture from a game Called Dual Swords. This game runs on the the gameboy advanced handheld. As you can see in the background killroy was on the GBA. Mike Weirauch |
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From the Cleveland
Plain Dealer
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After a
ferocious battle in WWII. The troops moved in to find inscribed:
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I wish I could give you fuller information. I was in my early teens during WWII, so clearly I didn't see this in place. I do remember this version being reported in the Cleveland Plain Dealer during the breakout from Cherbourg. It was one of many items then current about lighter moments on the front. As you know, Kilroy quotes were very popular then. The basic story was that one of the advance units thought they were the first Allied unit in a place, and found this doggerel waiting for them. Events then were very much in a state of flux, so not many of the Kilroy stories were documented. I don't doubt that several of them were invented to provide copy. All I can do is to assure you that it was reported during the time that the Third Army was tearing across France. Roger E. Mills |
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Kilroy on Peleliu, 1944
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This is not the original sighting but a replica of what Wesley saw. |
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Kilroy sighting on the island of Peleliu (the Palau Islands) in 1944: I was second radio (during General Quarters, when we were not engaged in landings, I was the gunner on our port twenty mm. antiaircraft gun.) On the morning of September 15, 1944, just before the first wave of Marines were to go in, I spotted something sticking out of the rocks on an outcropping of land on our starboard side. We were nosed in toward the beach, maintaining station, waiting for the first wave to come in from the big PA's and LST's in the outer harbor. We were one of five wooden subchasers on loan from the Navy to the Army ("MacArthur's Navy") and one minesweeper that were coordinating the landings with the TFC on the flagship in the outer harbor. The LCVP's would come in, about eight or ten of them to each liaison ship, circle until we received "Execute" from the TFC, then when we ran up the red "Go" pennant, they would go in. I spotted something in the rocks and
got curious enough to borrow a pair of binoculars from
the quartermaster to check it out. When I shouted out,
"Kilroy was here!" everybody in the pilothouse
thought I was crazy, and it was sometime before anyone
would take me seriously. But there it was, about a thousand
yards from the first landing beach, at the top of a pile
of rocks, was a sign that said, "Kilroy Was Here!"
No one had an explanation for how it got there. No American
could have done that and no Jap would do it. We were the
first in, and no one in the landing party had made it
ashore at that time. Someone suggested that it had probably
been put there by some Jap who had lived in the States,
but I argued that no Jap about to meet his maker would
do a thing like that. Three days later I "celebrated"
my nineteenth birthday. |
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| This sighting
is from the noted author Wesley Hall. Wesley should know!
He was there and wrote the excellent book The Splendid
Five, see the review in Volume
5 Miscellany page 2.
In the book he mentions this sighting. How did it get there? Who did it? Another mystery of WWII. |
 Wesley Hall |
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Dear Kilroy Editor, Editor's note: Don't miss
Owen Kichener's site at: |
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Kilroy on a cast
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Robert Pappas |
July 29, 2001 |
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Joanne McDaniel wrote: |
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Kilroy in Las Vegas
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Tom Kercher |
Pat,
Here is yet another Kilroy sighting. This is your kind
of restaurant. I Found this one in Las Vegas.
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