Who the Heck Was KILROY??

KILROY WAS HERE!

In 1946 the American Transit Association, through its radio program, "Speak to America," sponsored a nationwide contest to find the REAL Kilroy, offering a prize of a real trolley car to the person who could prove himself to be the genuine article.

Almost 40 men stepped forward to make that claim, but only James Kilroy from Halifax, Massachusetts had evidence of his identity.

Kilroy was a 46-year old shipyard worker during the war. He worked as a checker at the Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts, where his job was to go around to check the number of rivets the workers had completed. Riveters were paid piecework rates and so got paid by the rivets they installed. Kilroy would count a block of rivets and put a check mark in semi-waxed lumber chalk, so that the rivets wouldn't be counted twice.

When Kilroy went off duty, the riveters would go back and erase his marks. Later, an off-shift inspector would come on duty and go 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 that 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 checkmark on each job he inspected, but added KILROY WAS HERE 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 would have been covered up with paint. With war on, 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 which the yard had constructed. His message became a curiosity and rang the bell with the memories of the servicemen, because they picked up the phrase and spread it all over Europe and the South Pacific so that before the war's end, "Kilroy" had been here, there, and everywhere on the long haul to Berlin and Tokyo.

To the unfortunate troops outbound in those ships, however, he was a complete mystery; all they knew for sure was that some jerk 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. (It is said to be atop Mt. Everest, the Statue of Liberty, the underside of the Arch De Triumphe, 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 the coming invasions by U.S. troops (and thus, presumably, were the first GI's there to add the message wherever they could think to hide it). On one occasion, however, they reported seeing enemy troops painting over the Kilroy logo! In 1945, an outhouse was built for the exclusive use of Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill at the Potsdam Conference.

The first person inside was Stalin, who emerged and asked his aide (in Russian), "Who is Kilroy?"

To help prove his authenticity in 1946, James Kilroy brought along officials from the shipyard and some of the riveters. He won the trolley car, which he gave to his nine children as a Christmas gift and set it up as a playhouse in the Kilroy front yard in Halifax, Massachusetts.


So now You Know!

History of the Marine Corps Flag




Very little information is available regarding the flags carried by early American Marines, although indications are that the Grand Union flag was carried ashore by the battalion led by Captain Samuel Nicholas on New Providence Island, 3 March 1776. It is quite possible that the Rattlesnake flag was also carried on this expedition.
The standard carried by the Marines during the 1830s and 1840s consisted of a white field with gold fringe, and bore an elaborate design of an anchor and eagle in the center. Prior to the Mexican War, this flag bore the legend "To the Shores of Tripoli" across the top. Shortly after the war, the legend was revised to read: "From Tripoli to the Halls of the Montezumas."
During the Mexican and Civil Wars, Marines in the field apparently carried a flag similar to the national flag, comprised of red and white stripes and a union. The union, however, contained an eagle perched on a shield of the United States and a half-wreath beneath the shield, with 29 stars encircling the entire design. Beginning in 1876, Marines carried the national colors (the Stars and Stripes) with "U.S. Marine Corps" embroidered in yellow on the middle red stripe.
At the time of the Vera Cruz landing in 1914, a more distinctive standard was carried by Marines. The design consisted of a blue field with a laurel wreath encircling the Marine Corps emblem in the center. A scarlet ribbon above the emblem carried the words "U.S. Marine Corps," while another scarlet ribbon below the emblem carried the motto "Semper Fidelis."
Orders were issued on 2 April 1921 which directed all national colors be manufactured without the yellow fringe and without the words "U.S. Marine Corps" embroidered on the red stripe. This was followed by an order dated 14 March 1922, retiring from use all national colors still in use with yellow fringe or wording on the flag. Following World War I, the Army practice of attaching silver bands carrying inscriptions enumerating specific decorations and battles was adopted. This practice was discontinued on 23 January 1961.
Marine Corps Order No. 4 of 18 April 1925 designated gold and scarlet as the official colors of the U.S. Marine Corps. These colors, however, were not reflected in the official Marine Corps standard until 18 January 1939, when a new design incorporating the new colors was approved. The design was essentially that of today's Marine Corps standard.
For a brief time following World War I, the inscribing of battle honors directly on the colors of a unit was in practice, but realization that a multiplicity of honors and the limited space on the colors made the system impractical, and the procedure was discontinued. On 29 July 1936, a Marine Corps Board recommended that the Army system of attaching streamers to the staff of the organizational colors be adopted. Such a system was finally authorized by Marine Corps Order No. 157, dated 3 November 1939, and is currently in practice.

  

History of the Uniforms of the United States Marine Corps (USMC)

A Marine in uniform is a sight to behold. As a Marine, you will wear a uniform that has for more than two centuries stood for the very best of the United States of America. Freedom and opportunity are the pillars of our nation, and Marines protect them. Only the bravest wear the Marine uniform.
BLUE AS A COLOR for Marine Corps uniforms dates from the activation of the United States Marine Corps in 1798. The uniforms first provided were War Department surplus, presumably from disbanded rifle battalions of the United States Army's Legion. Except for a brief return to green in the 1830s, blue continued as the color for Marine service uniforms until 1912 and for dress uniforms to the present. The dress uniform has remained unchanged except for minor details since 1912 and has its antecedents in the undress-enlisted coat of 1859. The uniforms of 1798 were piped or trimmed in red, and red trim has continued to this day in the red trouser stripes on Marine officers' dress blue uniforms. Sky blue trousers have been worn since 1840.
ENLISTED MARINES HAVE worn red-trimmed blue uniforms since 1798 when the United States Marine Corps was activated to serve in the new "Frigate Navy." Their blue uniforms were worn for all military duties, except fatigues, and generally followed the pattern worn by officers. Prior to the adoption of forest-green service uniforms in 1912, the only exception was in the 1834-1840 period in which the green color of Revolutionary War Continental Marines' uniforms was temporarily revived. From the 1850s to 1912, all enlisted Marines' winter dress, undress, and fatigue uniforms were blue.
Since 1912 the blue uniform has been reserved for dress except for ships' detachments, embassy guards, and other high visibility duties. The enlisted blue coat remained virtually unchanged, except for quality of cloth, until 1949 when breast and shirt pockets were added. This uniform, with minor changes, is still worn today.
Marine dress blues are the only uniforms made up of all the same colors of our nation's flag. Blue represents bravery. Red represents sacrifice. White represents honor. Marines defend their colors and live by them. The collar of their "dress blues" uniform is similar to the leather stock worn around the necks of their American Revolution-era predecessors, which is how Marines earned the nickname "leatherneck." The scarlet stripe on their trouser leg is the "blood stripe" earned in "the halls of Montezuma." Officers carry the replica of a sword presented by an Arab chieftain after a Marine victory on "the shores of Tripoli" two centuries ago. A desert chieftain presented Marine Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon with a sword – a scimitar - to show his appreciation. Mameluke warriors of North Africa used the scimitar. By 1825, all Marine officers were mandated to wear the Mameluke sword and have done so ever since. Their hats or "covers" are marked by a quatrefoil to symbolize a white cross used in the days of sailing ships to identify their Marine officers.

THESE ARE MODERN SOLDIERS...

THE REALITY OF WAR AND COMRADERY REMAINS THE SAME.

                                               

  "BROTHERS IN ARMS"

~ Dire Straits ~

  ~ Orchestral Version, Mark Knopfler ~

SLEEP LAST  NIGHT?

Bed a little lumpy..?

Toss and  turn  any....?

Wish the heat was  higher...Maybe the a/c??

Had to go to the john......Need a drink of  water....

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~Message from Iraq~    

The proud warriors of Baker Company wanted to do something to pay tribute to our fallen comrades so since we are part of the only Marine Infantry Battalion left in Iraq the one way that we could think of doing that is by taking a picture of Baker Company saying the way we feel:

 'WE  HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN'  

And  are proud to serve our country.  

Semper Fi  !!  

1st Sgt Dave Jobe.

Baker Company would like to let the folks back home know that they remember why they're there and that they remember those who've been lost.....

No doubt you've seen this mailing before; I thought it would be good to have it on this page to inspire reflection in the whole world.