"Kilroy Was Here" Sightings
page 4
Some time in the early 1940's, someone
first scribbled these famous words. We don't know how many millions
of times this simple graffiti appeared during WWII or the Korean
War but we do know that Kilroy Was Here is still finding it's
way on to any vertical surface. These are the sightings from then
and that continue no
The graffiti
Click the image for a larger view |
Kilroy Was Here
in 1937 . . . Well, not really
The consensus is
the "Kilroy was here" originated in World
War II. I have seen a fascinating bit of counter evidence.
The History Channel has broadcast more than once a
story about Fort Knox. In it, they describe how local
young Missouri men were employed in 1937 to move the
heavy gold bricks into the vaults, which were afterwards
closed to all but a few workers. The narrator mentions
that a number of the young men left graffiti. In one
brief moment, the camera catches "Kilroy was
here. 5/13/37." It is, as I say, a brief but
a very clear appearance. The program is "Fort
Knox, secrets revealed." If I remember correctly,
the
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actual sighting occurs when the
film is describing how in 1974 visitors were allowed
into the vaults and saw graffiti left in 1937.
I am old enough to remember WWII.
I was a boy in England. Americans combined "Kilroy
was here" with an English cartoon figure called
"Chad" that had been created by a cartoonist
named something like Chatterfield. This was the face
looking over a wall, with an enormous nose in front
of the wall, with the message "Wot no ----."
It spoke to the frustration of living in wartime England
with its rationing and its chronic shortages, so the
full message would be something like "Wot no
cigarettes" or "Wot no whiskey." But
it became popular and was the source of many whimsical
graffiti. I remember visiting a museum in which someone
had written on the skeleton of some prehistoric creature,
"Wot no meat." (See Wot
no Engines? and
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The graffiti date
Click the image for a larger view
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KILROY
AND CHAD WERE EVERYWHERE.
John Cooper
Aerial view of Ft. Knox. Thanks
to Google Earth. Click
the image for a larger view |
 Response
Wow, John, you really have my
attention! This could be a historic find. I immediately
got a copy of the show and sure enough at 21:33 minutes
into into a 2:02 video, while emptying a room the
narrator said: "on the job, they come across
some unexpected traces of history. While emptying
each room, they discover something the workers who
unloaded the gold in 1937 left behind." They
then panned the wall where there was a "Help
I'm trapped in a gold vault." Then the narrator
talks about them leaving the graffiti never to be
seen again. Here is shown the "Kilroy Was Here
5/13/37" at 21:52.
I contacted the noted historian
Paul Urbahns who is did the show. Paul responded:
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have been fooled by Hollywood. Yes that was a recreation.
Some of the phrases were remembered by former employees
but Kilroy was probably not one of them. No filming
was allowed in the Gold Vault. The scenes of the young
man with long hair stacking gold are recreations.
You might let your group know about the upcoming
air dates so they can have a laugh and realize how
much the phrase has become so common."
Paul Urbahns
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Aerial view of Ft. Knox. Thanks
to Google Earth. Click
the image for a larger view |
You can buy the DVD at:
http://www.amazon.com/Fort-Knox-Secrets-Revealed-History/dp/B000P6R5OS
The show Will be on again Monday, November 09 10:00 PM
and Tuesday, November 10 02:00 AM
http://www.history.com/shows.do?action=detail&episodeId=299528
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More on Kilroy
During WWII but still no image
"Still, it is doubtful
whether any army of such numbers or such power ever behaved
better or, for that matter, was so well received, even
among conquered enemies. The GI came and went, in Europe
and the Pacific. He took home new notions about the earth,
about people who were not American, not rich. not powerful,
who. represented a different race or faith. He left behind
some of his own ideas and a great many deâd comrades.
He also left behind a curious marking that was chalked
on rocks, on city walls, on lavatories: "Kilroy was
here.'' No one ever found
out for sure who Kilroy was, where he came from, or why
anyone would care enough about him to scrawl his name
across half the globe. But that Kilroy was there was absolutely
certain; and if he had not made the world safe for democracy,
he had at least helped to rid it of an inhuman despotism."
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The American Heritage Picture History of World War Two,
by C. L. Sulzberger Page 401 Suggested by Fr. Hugh Hall,
Pensacola
But we still need
an image dating from WWII!
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A moving gift from a Friend
and a moving story
I am an amputee (right leg below knee) and
a qualified amputee peer visitor. I was asked to call
upon Gerry by a mutual friend. He had bone cancer in his
right foot and doctors agreed amputation was the only
way to purge the disease from his body. Gerry had other
issues, clinical depression among them. I was unsuccessful
in convincing him there was good life after amputation.
He declined to 'mutilate' himself as he chose to call
it and the cancer spread, ultimately taking his life.
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Click image for a larger view |
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Gerry loved to 'throw'
pottery, and turned out some rather good stuff. Though an
avowed atheist, he turned out many pieces for the chapel
at a local hospital. As is often the case with care receivers,
Gerry and I became good friends. He made me the Kilroy piece
bout twelve years ago.
Gerry Gardiner, Kilroy
Potterer
Gerry, a teenager in the
middle forties, became intrigued with Kilroy during the
latter part of World War II. Youngsters who remained behind
idolized those who went off to fight. Emulation being the
best form of adulation, Gerry, like so many of his peers,
caught the Kilroy passion from America's warriors. Artistic
by nature, Gerry soon discovered his flair for pottery and
embellished on that throughout life. He attended Casper
Union College in New York where he met his future wife,
Ruth. Gerry served a short stint in the US Army in the pay
grade of Private. He eventually settled in the Seattle,
Washington area, taking employment with the Boeing Company's
Defense and Space Division. Pottery remained a passion as
did his obsession with Kilroy. Clay coffee mugs with Kilroy
peering over the edge became a natural product of these
two interests.
Barely sixty, Gerry contracted cancer in his right lower
leg. Unfortunately, he suffered also from clinical depression.
In the final analysis he could not bring himself to accept
his only option for preventing spread of the disease to
vital organs; amputation. And so, the world lost a vital
person well before his time.
Gerry alleged himself to be an atheist despite his practice
of the golden rule being better than most Christians. He
spent many of his final days at Overlake Hospital Medical
Center, Bellevue, Washington. There, various members of
the Pastoral Care Department showed him believers do not
have a monopoly on the need for compassion. As a consequence,
Gerry donated some of his finest pottery as appointments
for the hospital chapel that remain on display there today.
Best, Don Ulmer
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Emily Washler with her First PLace |
And the
winner is . . .
Miss Emily Washler and Kilroy Was
There when she won!
Miss Emily Washler of Brown Barge Middle School (6th grade)
walked away with NUMBER ONE in the state Junior Individual
Exhibit class. She did this in the school and county contests
before this. More than 850 middle and High School students
from 25 Florida counties participated in the National History
Day program in the state fair, May 7-9 at Tallahassee Community
College.
Number one and number two in each
class will represent Florida at The 2009 National Contest
at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland,
June 14-18 .
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This
year's topic is "The Individual in History: Actions
& Legacies." Emily ignored the usual suggestions,
i.e., Historic statesmen, first ladies, civil rights
heroes, and stepped daintily and firmly outside the
box by choosing Kilroy Was Here! Kilroy was
certainly not on the Sample Topic List.
Attagirl, Emily!
Keep us posted on the nationals!
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The winning Display
Click the Image for a larger
view |
Other winners are listed below in the categories in which
they competed.
Junior Historical Paper
1st Place—Anna Yannakopoulos, Hillsborough County
2nd Place—David Hager, Duval County
Junior Individual Documentary
1st Place—Kayley Erickson, Leon County
2nd Place—Nicholas Contessa, Manatee County
Junior Group Documentary
1st Place—Dianelys Barriors, Tisha Saylor, Lee County
2nd Place—Annie Li, Mary Kate Wilson, Alachua County
Junior Individual Performance
1st Place—Mackenzie Yaryura, Manatee County
2nd Place—Booker Sexton, Escambia County
Junior Group Performance
1st Place—Matthew Boerner, Mitchell Cobb, Ariana Czala,
Shelby Carollo, Nicolas Fabre, Manatee County
2nd Place—Austin Travis, Elliott Riches, Daniel Tanchez,
Chris Ralph, Kaitlyn Samons, Broward County
Junior Individual Exhibit
1st Place—Emily Washler, Escambia County
2nd Place—Jalen Benson, Escambia County
Junior Group Exhibit
1st Place—Gabriel Sacco, Hunter Cole, Pinellas County
2nd Place—Megan Lee, Amy Sullivan, Clay County
Junior Web Site
1st Place—Alexander Grant, Pinellas County
2nd Place—Annika Mulaney, Polk County
Senior Historical Paper
1st Place—Madison Chapman, Manatee County
2nd Place—Patrick Joseph Button, Leon County
Senior Individual Documentary
1st Place—Sarah Tedesco, Manatee County
2nd Place—Dana Edwards, Leon County
Senior Group Documentary
1st Place—Lauren Davies, Kendall Frankhouser, Palm
Beach County
2nd Place—Michael Warren, Zachary Smith, Jason Kiracofe,
Daniel Allweiss, Pinellas County
Senior Individual Performance
1st Place—Laura Henning, Volusia County
2nd Place—Megan Rasmussen, Volusia County
Senior Group Performance
1st Place—Hallie Ableman, Mitch Marois, Rachel Burns,
Crawford Hunt, Pinellas County (unable to go to Nationals)
2nd Place—Amanda Patton, Brian Hagerott, Escambia County
3rd Place—Allysen Marks, Kelly Letcher, Garrett Nickell,
St. Lucie County (will go to Nationals instead of 1st place
winners)
Senior Individual Exhibit
1st Place—Nathan Gupta, Escambia County
2nd Place—Meredith Gardner, Manatee County
Senior Group Exhibit
1st Place—Karissa Kleinschmidt, Katelynn Scallan, Jesse
Adcock, Escambia County
2nd Place—Mary Katheryn Snyder, Kristie Jones, Escambia
County
Senior Web Site
1st Place—Katelyn Varn, Leon County
2nd Place—Robert Lockard, Carmen Moore, Polk County
Ron Heller was awarded the Teacher of
Merit Award for his work at the Shorecrest Preparatory School
in St. Peterburg (Pinellas County). Mr. Heller teaches 9th-grade
Western Civilization. He has been involved in National History
Day for seven years. Both students and parents praise his
work. Heller is also nominated for the NHD's PBS Teacher
of Merit Award.
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Kilroy with the Marines in Afghanistan
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Kandahar Air
Field Click the image for a larger
view |
Kandahar Air
Field Click the image for a larger
view |
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GySgt Eldar Krueger
Stationed at Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan
UNIT: SPMAGTF-A
It stands for: Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force
- Afghanistan
SPMAGTF-A's mission is to conduct counterinsurgency operations,
and to train and mentor Afghanistan national forces.
Click the star for
more pictures with the Marines in Afghanistan 
Response Thanks Gunny for the first
Sighting of Kilroy in Afghanistan and thank you and your
buddies for your service. You make an old Jarhead very proud!
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Click image for a larger
view
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........Kilroy
on Mars?.....
See the image (right) and the key (below right) enlarged
and side by side.
Click the star |
Click image for a larger view |
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Here is an image (a natural form?)
taken three times by the Mars Global Surveyor (which
is very unusual) which orbited and snapped pictures
of Mars between 1998 and 2006. It was then imaged
again by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter just recently.
I'm attaching reduced images but if you want the full
blown (430kb) MRO image let me know.
The Air Force Brass running NASA
probably noticed this and that's why they imaged the
same coordinates an unprecedented 4 times.
My interest in the theory
that there may be geoglyphs and other artifacts (left
by an ancient race?) on Mars stems from the discovery
of the famous "Face on (Cydonia) Mars" discovered
in 1976 from the old Viking Orbiter images. The "Face"
was referenced in the movie, Mission to Mars, starring
Gary Sinise and Tim Robbins.
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Since then, many other faces and
artifacts have been found by myself and others. The
way my brother (who believes they are all pareidolia
[like faces in clouds]) puts it: If NASA doesn't believe
the faces are real, they sure act as if they did.
They have imaged the Cydonia face over 10 times that
I know of, and now Kilroy 4 times. This shows extreme
interest since there is so much terrain to cover and
so little time and resources to do it in. (In terms
of dry land surface area, Mars is as large as the
earth). Of course they'd say they are just imaging
interesting landforms. Hundreds of thousands of pictures
have been taken of the surface of Mars by the various
orbiters NASA has sent up. These images are available
to the general public at various websites.
Cheers,
Neil DeRosa
P.S. The lower resolution images are about 1.5 meters
/ pixel and the higher resolution MRO (HiRISE) image
is about .5 m/p. the object (Kilroy) is about 65 meters
wide.
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Click
image for a larger view |
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Spotted this morning, in Brownsville
(a part of Pensacola, FL).
Tom Kercher
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Click
image for a larger view
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On their cover of
Beggars Banquet
Kilroy with The ..Rolling
Stones...
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image for a larger view |
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Dear Editor,
OK so I was listening to the Rolling
Stones CD Beggars Banquet' and I always loved looking at
all the grafitti on the front cover. But what really caught
my eye was the little Kilroy you can see on the top right
of the front cover
David Machacek
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Click image for a larger
view
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TWO NEW SIGHTINGS
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Click image for a larger view |
Pat,
While looking up WWII Troop Transport ships, I ran a
Google search on the subject. Among the topics listed
was, Railroad Troop Carriers. As a train fan, I clicked
to see what it had to offer. The Lego toy train came
up. Upon close examination, there "he" was
on the side of the car. Interesting what's found when
you're not looking for it.
This looks like your Kilroy drawing, is it? Apparently
the toy train, WWII Troop Cars are made by (or of) Lego.
Here's the web site I found it on. Brickshelf
Gallery
Bill Lewis
WOF Productions |
Hi,
Iwas watching the TV show Spongebob Squarepants and
saw this. Ithought it kinda looked like kilroy, im
not sure if it was on purpose or not.
Craig.Cowden.................................................
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Dutch Killroy courtesy www.RateYourMusic.com
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Killroy important
for Dutch culture
Dutch Killroy
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Dear
Editor,
When looking for the origin of the kilroy I know of (which
is spelled killroy), I came upon your site and found this
missing. It is a Dutch music-label, actually it was
(1972-1980). It was owned by a Dutch singer/producer (Johnny
Hoes) which was and still is the greatest producer of folk
music, in a sense of people's music. Better to say, very corny,
BUT quite important for Dutch culture. A lot of very famous
Dutch singers, not to be mentioned due to obscurity, were
made famous by this man. The Killroy label was a sublabel
of the main thing (Telstar) and was for the better bands,
more rock 'n roll, folk, American inspired, etc. I especially
like the logo, you guess what it looks like.
http://rateyourmusic.com/label/killroy/
With kind regards,
Ronald Nijhof,
The Netherlands
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