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gunner's harness, believed to have been damaged, could not be located in the bundle of blankets and flying clothes which had been removed from the wounded men. With utter disregard for his own means of escape, 2d Lt. Kingsley unhesitatingly removed his parachute harness and adjusted it to the wounded tail gunner. Due to the extensive damage caused by the accurate and concentrated 20mm. fire by the enemy aircraft the pilot gave the order to bail out, as it appeared that the aircraft would disintegrate at any moment. 2d Lt. Kingsley aided the wounded men in bailing out and when last seen by the crewmembers he was standing on the bomb bay catwalk. The aircraft continued to fly on automatic pilot for a short distance, then crashed and burned. His body was later found in the wreckage. 2d Lt. Kingsley by his gallant heroic action was directly responsible for saving the life of the wounded gunner.
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room, skillfully applied first aid to the wound, and succeeded in checking the bleeding. The tail gunner's parachute harness and heavy clothes were removed and he was covered with blankets, making him as comfortable as possible. Eight Me 109 aircraft again aggressively attacked 2d Lt. Kingsley's aircraft and the
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Memorial to David
Kingsley and Suhozem victims was built in Suhozem, Bulgaria, near the crash site of his B-17. When Kingsley's plane crashed it killed a family of seven on the ground. The memorial was dedicated on 23 October 2004 and was built using a part of his plane in the memorial. Kingsley's
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shell fragments. He went forward to the radio room to have 2d Lt. Kingsley administer first aid. A few minutes later when the pilot gave the order to prepare to bail out, 2d Lt. Kingsley immediately began to assist the wounded gunners in putting on their parachute harness. In the confusion the tail
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aircraft, causing more damage to the aircraft and severely wounding the tail gunner in the upper arm. The radio operator and engineer notified 2d Lt. Kingsley that the tail gunner had been wounded and that assistance was needed to check the bleeding. 2d Lt. Kingsley made his way back to the radio
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to SSgt. Michael
Sullivan, whose chute had been lost. Kingsley was killed when the aircraft crashed a short time later. For these actions, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor ten months later, on April 9, 1945; the medal was presented to Kingsley's brother, Thomas E. Kingsley, by Major
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and forced to drop out of formation but the pilot proceeded over the target and 2d Lt. Kingsley successfully dropped his bombs, causing severe damage to vital installations. The damaged aircraft, forced to lose altitude and to lag behind the formation, was aggressively attacked by 3
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was named
Kingsley Field in honor of Kingsley's sacrifice. A street was named for him in base housing at Lincoln Air Force Base (now closed) where the 97th was later stationed.
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For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty, June 23, 1944 near
Ploesti, Romania, while flying as bombardier of a
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sister
Phyllis Kingsley Rolison was at the dedication as was friends of the family killed when Kingsley's plane crashed.
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In the month of
December of 2019, the 173rd Fighter Wing at Kingsley Field Air National Guard Base brought an F-15C to
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type aircraft. On the bomb run 2d Lt. Kingsley's aircraft was severely damaged by intense
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officer and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the
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A firefighter before the war, Kingsley joined the Army Air Forces from
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Second
Lieutenant Kingsley's official Medal of Honor citation reads:
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United States Army Air Forces personnel killed in World War II
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United States Army Air Forces Medal of Honor recipients
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uploaded to
Edwards Air Force Base's YouTube channel
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495:List of Medal of Honor recipients for World War II
599:"Medal of Honor recipients - World War II (G–L)"
379:European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
246:Kingsley, aged 25 at his death, was buried at
686:World War II recipients of the Medal of Honor
630:The entire process was captured on video and
607:United States Army Center of Military History
517:United States Army Center of Military History
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174:(June 27, 1918 – June 23, 1944) was a
206:in April 1942, and by June 23, 1944 was a
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676:Military personnel from Portland, Oregon
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681:United States Army Air Forces officers
671:Burials at Arlington National Cemetery
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198:Grave at Arlington National Cemetery
696:Aviators killed by being shot down
574:"Burial detail: Kingsley, David R"
515:from websites or documents of the
222:. On that day, during a raid over
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490:List of Medal of Honor recipients
511: This article incorporates
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32:2d Lieutenant David R. Kingsley
609:. June 8, 2009. Archived from
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176:United States Army Air Forces
104:United States Army Air Forces
634:on Friday, January 10, 2020.
532:WWII Army Enlistment Records
136:97th Heavy Bombardment Group
691:Recipients of the Air Medal
248:Arlington National Cemetery
81:Arlington National Cemetery
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544:"Air Force MOH Recipients"
389:World War II Victory Medal
252:Arlington County, Virginia
132:341st Bombardment Squadron
441:David R Kingsley memorial
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603:Medal of Honor citations
92:United States of America
397:Medal of Honor citation
374:American Campaign Medal
513:public domain material
462:Edwards Air Force Base
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423:gunner was wounded by
350:USAAF Bombardier Badge
216:97th Bombardment Group
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172:David Richard Kingsley
451:Klamath Falls, Oregon
447:Klamath Falls Airport
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110:Years of service
182:—for his actions in
554:on 11 December 2015
220:Fifteenth Air Force
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382:with three bronze
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258:Awards and honors
208:second lieutenant
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122:Second Lieutenant
20:David R. Kingsley
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61:June 23, 1944
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615:. Retrieved
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578:ANC Explorer
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556:. Retrieved
552:the original
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362:Purple Heart
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184:World War II
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160:Purple Heart
146:World War II
142:Battles/wars
63:(1944-06-23)
656:1944 deaths
651:1918 births
421:ball turret
113:1942 - 1944
645:Categories
617:2008-01-23
558:29 October
501:References
212:bombardier
88:Allegiance
71:, Bulgaria
44:1918-06-27
367:Air Medal
236:parachute
190:Biography
164:Air Medal
468:See also
239:General
232:fighters
224:PloieĹźti
98:Service/
228:Romania
214:in the
69:Suhozem
583:May 3,
433:Legacy
416:Me 109
152:Awards
100:branch
425:20mm.
67:near
585:2023
560:2015
445:The
411:flak
128:Unit
118:Rank
58:Died
53:, US
38:Born
449:in
407:B17
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
