Who is Kilroy

– by Darrin Nauman (owner)

Ever since I was a young kid I’ve been interested in WW2, after all I had two uncles who had fought in the war.  Though I didn’t get the chance to know my uncles Jay or Virgl very well as I was very young. I always enjoyed my mother telling us kids what heroes her brothers were, and how that is the greatest generation of all time (which, I believe is still true today). 

This brings us to James Kilroy. I always remember seeing the little guy with the Prominent nose peering over the wall.  There for a while he would appear on bug deflectors or old pick up trucks.  It wasn’t until high school where I learned the significance of “Kilroy was Here”.  James Kilroy was a rivet inspector on the new battleship fleet the United States was building in response to Japans attack on Pearl Harbor (12-7-41) and Germany declaring war on the USA.  

Kilroy would draw his 1940’s avatar on the bulkheads to let paint crews know that rivets and welds had passed inspection.  During this time the United States was forced to rebuild our fleets to enter WW2 so quickly they did not have time to remove “Kilroy Was Here” before shipping them across the ocean for battle.

While preparing for what would ultimately be D-DAY (6-6-44).  The G.I.’s saw “Kilroy Was Here” throughout the ships. They adopted this beautiful artwork and started drawing Kilroy all over Europe & the Pacific Theatre.  Some believe that “Kilroy Was Here” was a morale-builder as well as strength to the G.I.’s when they would arrive at new locations discovering “Kilroy Was Here” indicating American soldiers had already passed through.  And from there on Kilroy was truly everywhere.  

Resulting from my love for the greatest generation, I began to use Kilroy as our company logo from the very beginning.  We have worked with many WW2, Korean, and Vietnam veterans as customers, Many of our heroes get a twinkle and a grin when they see “Kilroy Was Here” pulling into their driveways, always commenting “I have not seen Kilroy in a long time!

We have adopted “Kilroy Was Here” as our stamp of approval on all of our jobs providing peace of mind to our customers, and our mission is to take him everywhere we go to help tell the story!