Thursday, October 3, 2013

Honoring the World War II Vets ... Because the Dems won't


He is engraved in stone in the National War Memorial 
in Washington, DC- 
For the WWII generation, this will bring back memories. 
American history. Anyone born in 1913 to about 1950, 
but everybody seemed to get into it.
So who was Kilroy?
In 1946 the American Transit Association, through its radio program, 
"Speak to America ," sponsored a nationwide contest to 
who could prove himself to be the genuine article. 
Almost 40 men stepped forward to make that claim, 
war who worked as a checker at the Fore River Shipyard 
number of rivets completed. Riveters were on piecework and 
wouldn't be counted twice. When Kilroy went off duty, 
the riveters would erase the mark.

Later on, an off-shift inspector would come through 
and count the rivets a second time, 
resulting in double pay for the riveters.
One day Kilroy's boss called him into his office. 
The foreman was upset about all the wages being paid 
to riveters, and asked him to investigate. It was then 
he realized what had been going on. The tight spaces he 
had to crawl in to check the rivets didn't lend themselves to 
lugging around a paint can and brush, so Kilroy decided to 
stick with the waxy chalk. He continued to put his check 
mark on each job he inspected, but added 
in king-sized letters next to the check, and eventually 
added the sketch of the chap with the long nose peering 
over the fence and that became part of the Kilroy message.
Once he did that, the riveters stopped trying to wipe 
away his marks. Ordinarily the rivets and chalk marks 
however, ships were leaving the Quincy Yard so fast 
that there wasn't time to paint them. As a result, 
Kilroy's inspection "trademark" was seen by thousands of 
servicemen who boarded the troopships the yard produced.
His message apparently rang a bell with the servicemen, 
because they picked it up and spread it all over 
Europe and the South Pacific.
and everywhere on the long hauls to Berlin and Tokyo . 
To the troops outbound in those ships, however, 
he was a complete mystery; all they knew for sure was 
that someone named Kilroy had "been there first." 
As a joke, U.S. servicemen began placing the graffiti 
wherever they landed, claiming it was 
already there when they arrived.
Kilroy became the U.S. super-GI who had always 
"already been" wherever GIs went. It became a challenge 
to place the logo in the most unlikely places imaginable
the underside of the Arc de Triomphe, 
and even scrawled in the dust on the moon.
As the war went on, the legend grew. Underwater demolition 
teams routinely sneaked ashore on Japanese-held islands in the 
Pacific to map the terrain for coming invasions by 
On one occasion, however, they reported seeing 
enemy troops painting over the Kilroy logo!
Stalin, and Churchill at the Potsdam conference. 
Its' first occupant was Stalin, who emerged and 
 To help prove his authenticity in 1946, James Kilroy 
brought along officials from the shipyard and some 
playhouse in the Kilroy yard in Halifax , Massachusetts .
 And The Tradition Continues...
 EVEN Outside Osama Bin Laden's House!!!

Share This Bit Of Historic Humor
With All Your Friends! :)
God Bless you World War II Veterans !


Race Bannon said...

I never heard the story of the true Kilroy - I can only imagine soldiers going across the world to fight the destruction of freedom, seeing that, and laughing...

Randy-g said...

Kilroy is everywhere...Except on the left side of the isle on Congress. He wouldn't go near those rat bastards.

Curmudgeon said...

Excellent post buddy. Absolutely excellent!

Kristin said...

Great story. Thanks for sharing!

Dick said...

Saw this sign everywhere when I was a kid. Even drew it a few times myself. Thanks for the back story.

Woodsterman (Odie) said...

Race, I remember my mother and father putting this around. I just recently heard this story.

Woodsterman (Odie) said...

Randy, that they wouldn't.

Woodsterman (Odie) said...

Curmudgeon, you have exquisite taste, thank you.

Woodsterman (Odie) said...

Kristin, we've missed you! Glad you enjoyed.

Woodsterman (Odie) said...

Dick, your story sounds familiar. We must be the same age.

Sandee said...

God Bless you World War II Veterans!

That was awesome Odie. ☺

Woodsterman (Odie) said...

Sandee, That's right!

Rick Street said...

+1 Randy-g

edutcher said...

If Barry doesn't knock it off, some old Ranger who survived Cisterna or Pointe du Hoc is gonna carve that little motto on Choom's scrawny ass.

sig94 said...

That's a great post! Thanks Odie.

Woodsterman (Odie) said...

Rick, yup Obama is a coward!

Woodsterman (Odie) said...

Sig94, that's why we're here.

Woodsterman (Odie) said...

Edutcher, I sure hope so!

WomanHonorThyself said...

cool find Woodsy!

Marine4Ever said...

Semper Fidelis and God bless you World War II Veterans!

Opus #6 said...

Vets rock!

Woodsterman (Odie) said...

WHT, thank you pretty lady.

Woodsterman (Odie) said...

Marine, AMEN!

Woodsterman (Odie) said...

Opie ... Yes Ma'am!

Scott Way said...

Rosie and Kilroy the riveters were the backbone of our nation. They worked for very little and didn't squeal about a shutdown...Not much backbone to be seen today!

Woodsterman (Odie) said...

Scotty, we've become a nation of complainers.

Ron Russell said...

I must have read "Kilroy was Here" in a thousand different places, but I do have to say he spent far too much time in the JOHN!

Woodsterman (Odie) said...

Ron, mark it all.