Kilroy — a sign of sanity — and WikiWorld

September 4, 2011

Greg Williams produces more cartoons than newspapers can print (or do print) — he’s got a blog called WikiWorld as an outlet for some of them.  At WikiWorld, he does a one-panel cartoon to accompany some article he found at Wikipedia.  It’s much cooler than it sounds.

Do our history students appreciate the significance of Kilroy?  Williams offers a quick cartoon to explain.

Greg Williams cartoon on the Wikipedia entry for Kilroy

Would this make a good poster for a classroom? Greg Williams cartoon, Wikipedia information

In my studies of rhetoric at the University of Arizona, one class turned to a long discussion on Kilroy.  Without the internet, we had to make do with memory, logic, argument, and a quick trip to the library to see what we could find quickly.

My thesis, which I still hold, is that the presence of Kilroy marks the existence of sanity in otherwise crazy world, and that the rise of Kilroy, or Kilroyism, in war, demonstrates the spirit necessary to win.  Kilroy didn’t win the war singlehandedly, of course — but it was that spirit of Kilroy that turned the tide to victory for the Americans and allies so many times, in so many places.

Why isn’t Kilroy in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) list?

More, resources:

Kilroy, at the World War II Memorial, Washington, D.C.

Kilroy, in granite, at the World War II Memorial, Washington, D.C. - Wikimedia image, photo by Luis Rubio