Kilroy Was Here

A mysterious, mythical figure named Kilroy, as elusive as the Abominable Snowman or the Loch Ness Monster, roamed the world during World War II. Whenever US military personnel went to a new assignment, presumably the first Americans on the scene, it seemed Kilroy had gotten there first and scrawled the claim,”Kilroy was here,” on a wall or fence or rock--often accompanied by the drawing of a man peering over a fence, with only his fingers, his big nose, eyes, and the  top of his head visible.

The Kilroy tradition was carried around the world as thousands of soldiers and sailors enjoyed being anonymous contributors to the joke. “Kilroy was here” sightings have even been reported on Mt. Everest, the Statue of Liberty, the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, the Marco Polo Bridge in China, huts in Indonesia, a girder on New York's George Washington Bridge, and even in the dust on the moon.

Pregnant women were reported to have been wheeled into delivery rooms with "Kilroy was here" written on their stomachs.  

At the end of fighting in Europe, the so-called Big Three world leaders -- Harry Truman of the United States, Clement Attlee of Great Britain, and Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union -- were meeting in Potsdam, Germany.  Kilroy somehow left his mark in a marble bathroom in the closely guarded quarters where the leaders and their staffs were staying.

But what about the real Kilroy? Was he flesh and blood or just a GI prank? The web site, www.anydayinhistory.com, declares James J. Kilroy died on this date, November 24, 1962, at the age of 60. This web site, which lists births, deaths, and other significant events for every day of the year, identifies Kilroy as a tank inspector.

Web sites offer conflicting details, but they generally agree James Kilroy lived in the Boston area and worked on the docks as an inspector in a war-related industry. With a piece of chalk, he scribbled the now-famous words on crates before they were shipped out, as testimony that he had made his inspections. When the crates arrived at their destinations, U. S. forces adopted the words and the tradition was born. So the story goes.

In the final weeks of the year, there is a spirit abroad, at once as pervasive and perhaps as elusive as Kilroy, everywhere we go. Almost inescapable. 

The entire period---embracing Thanksgiving, Advent, Christmas, and New Year’s---can be as superficial as Kilroy: “The Holidays Were Here.” Or each can be a time of renewal as our spirits turn first in gratitude for the blessings of life, then to Advent as preparation for a spiritual observance of Christmas, followed by Christmas itself, and finally the dawning of a new year as a time of spiritual renewal. 

God’s Spirit is with us in all of life. So when the four seasons end, we need not say, as with Kilroy, “God’s Spirit was here.” Rather, we can declare, “God’s Spirit is here!”

A Verse for Today:

By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the  Savior of the world (l John 4:13-14).

From today, November 24, through New Year's Day, January 1, 2013, daily religious reflections will appear on this website, in keeping with Thanksgiving, Advent, Christmas, and New Year's.  These reflections are from my book, Reflections for the Festive Season.

© 2002.  All rights reserved.