Scope and Content Note
The papers of William Kilian Romoser (1903-1986) span the years 1922-1982 with the bulk of the material dating from 1948 to 1961. They pertain to Romoser's career as an officer in the United States Navy and focus heavily on the last decade of his career. The collection is organized in three series: Correspondence, Speeches and Statements, and Miscellany.
The Correspondence series is separated into official correspondence and personal correspondence. Personal correspondence, the largest portion of the Romoser Papers, consists of letters sent and received arranged by name of correspondent. Correspondents are primarily Navy colleagues but also include members of Romoser's immediate family.
The Speeches and Statements series contains texts of speeches, statements, and remarks made by Romoser as well as other military officers. The bulk of the speeches date from 1954 to 1961. Topics include the naval reserve, the amphibious training command, and issues of concern to the navy during that period. A list of most of the speeches is included.
The Miscellany series contains material relating to Romoser's activities in earlier periods of his naval career. A file on the coronation of George VI, King of Great Britain, contains programs, tickets, and other memorabilia from his coronation in 1937. As a crew member of the battleship New York, Romoser took part in the coronation review of the fleet. A file on the destroyer Radford contains items relating to a battle in Kula Gulf in the Solomon Islands in July 1943 in which the ship under Romoser's command rescued 440 crew members from a sunken cruiser despite the fact that the rescue efforts were abandoned several times in order to attack and sink enemy vessels in the area. Included is a 1944 script from the radio program, “The First Line,” which dramatized these events. Romoser appeared on the program.