The legend of Kilroy was here started with James Kilroy,a shipyard inspector during WWII. He would chalk the words "Kilroy was here" on the bulkheads to show that he had been there and inspected the riveting on the newly constructed ship. But a complete mystery to all the troops being shipped oversea's on these ships.
As a joke the GI's began placing the graffiti wherever they landed or went. Claiming it was already there when they arrived. This went as far as the first wave of assault troops landing on the beaches of Normandy came across graffiti on the beach obstacles of "KILORY WAS HERE".
After the wars end the Transit Company of America held a contest offering a prize of a real trolley car to the person who could prove to be the "real" Kilroy . Some forty men stepped forward claiming to be Kilroy. But James Kilroy brought along officals from the shipyard and some of the riveters to prove his story.
I just finished reading this story in one of my Grandfathers old post war Stars and Stripes. After reading I jumped on google for a quick search to see if there was any truth to the articale [X(] seems there are a lot of "Who was Kilroy" urban legends out there. Anyone know what the true [8|] story if not the one above.
