FReeper Canteen ~ Hall of Heroes: David Kingsley ~ September 22, 2008

Serving the Best Troops and Veterans in the World! | StarCMC and Sgt Tibbs

[Kathy in Alaska]

Our Troops Rock!  Thank you for all you do!

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~ Hall of Heroes ~

David Kingsley

Info from this website.

           

KINGSLEY, DAVID R. (Air Mission)

Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army Air Corps, 97th Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force.
Place and date: Ploesti Raid, Rumania, 23 June 1944.
Entered service at. Portland, Oregon.
Birth: Oregon. G.O. No.: 26, 9 April 1945.

Citation:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty, 23 June 1944 near Ploesti, Rumania, while flying as bombardier of a B17 type aircraft.

On the bomb run 2d Lt. Kingsley's aircraft was severely damaged by intense flak 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 ME-109 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 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 ball turret gunner was wounded by 20mm. 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 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.

Friday, October 22, 2004
The gift of life
  By Todd Kepple
Courtesy of the Herald and the News of Oregon

 Phyllis Kingsley Rolison, sister of Second Lieutenant David Kingsley, touches a section of the plane in which her brother died 60 years ago  in Bulgaria. Rolison paid her first visit to the site where Kingsley's  B-17 bomber crashed in 1944. Debris from the plane was used in
construction of a memorial in Suhozem, Bulgaria.



'Second Lieutenant Kingsley made his way back to the radio room, skillfully applied first aid to the wound, and succeeded in checking the bleeding. ...

A few minutes later when the pilot gave the order to prepare to bail out, Second Lieutenant Kingsley immediately began to assist the wounded gunners.'

The Opissonya was struggling to maintain altitude as it flew away from its bombing target at Ploesti, Romania.

The B-17 Flying Fortress carrying Second Lieutenant David Kingsley and eight other members of the U.S. Army Air Force had dropped its payload on an oil storage facility, but had sustained damage from an anti-aircraft shell.

Its number 1 engine was out, and the plane had become separated from the formation of other bombers, leaving it vulnerable to enemy fighters. At some point, cables giving the pilot control over the tail section of the plane were severed.

Making matters worse, German ME-109 fighter planes scrambled from an air field at Karlovo, Bulgaria, and pursued the crippled Opissonya.

As the fighters attacked from the rear, 20-millimeter cannon fire hit tail gunner Mike Sullivan, injuring his head and shoulder, and damaging his parachute harness.

Sullivan crawled from the tail to the mid-section of the plane. Kingsley was asked to dress his wounds.

Kingsley removed the damaged parachute from Sullivan, and managed to stem the flow of blood from his wounded arm.

Kingsley's bomber, the Opissonya, sits at a base before its fateful final mission.

In an effort to keep the faltering plane aloft, the crew began throwing out unnecessary equipment, but the damage was too severe. The pilot struggled to maintain control, but knew that if the plane began a nosedive, it would be increasingly difficult for its crew to escape.

He signaled for the crew to bail out.

With Sullivan's parachute damaged, and perhaps lost in the confusion, Kingsley took his own parachute off and strapped it on Sullivan. He then helped Sullivan to the bomb bay, and made sure Sullivan jumped safely.

"Carrying me in his arms, Lieutenant Kingsley struggled to get me through the door into the bomb bay," Sullivan told the Oregonian newspaper the following year, when Kingsley was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

"He told me to be sure and pull the rip cord after I had cleared the ship," Sullivan continued.

"I did and as I was floating down I saw the Fort fall off and go into a spin. It crashed, exploded and burned.

"The last time I saw Lieutenant Kingsley, he was standing on the catwalk over the open bomb bay doors."

All eight crewmen who jumped from the plane made it to the ground safely. Seven were captured and held as prisoners of war, while one was hidden by Bulgarians sympathetic to the allied cause.

Sullivan, circa 1995 'Carrying me in his arms, Lieutenant Kingsley struggled to get me through the door into the bomb bay. ... The last time I saw Lieutenant Kingsley, he was standing on the catwalk over the open bomb bay doors.'

The B-17 crashed near the village of Suhozem, a tiny remote village.

A Bulgarian air commander on the ground watched the plane go down and went to the crash site. He found Kingsley's body in the cockpit.

Witnesses on the ground said the plane circled before coming down, indicating Kingsley may have tried to save his own life by making a crash landing in a field.

Bulgarian villagers buried Kingsley in a makeshift grave. He was later reinterred at Arlington National Cemetery.

Two months after the crash of the Opissonya, Russian forces captured the heavily damaged oil field at Ploesti. The captured members of the Opissonya were held as prisoners until being released on September 10, 1944.

Kingsley was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on May 4, 1945. The award was presented to his brother, Navy Pharmacist's Mate First Class Thomas Kingsley, in a ceremony at St. Michael's Catholic Church in Portland. The ceremony was followed by a high mass.

The Klamath Falls municipal airport, which had served as a naval air station during World War II, was taken over by the Air Force in 1957. It was named Kingsley Field on July 3 of that year.

The U.S. Department of Defense closed its base at Kingsley Field in 1978, but the Oregon Air National Guard reopened the facility in 1980.

Three members of the Opissonya crew gathered for a reunion at Kingsley Field in June 1995. They were pilot Edwin "Andy" Anderson, ball turret gunner Stanley Kmiec, and tail gunner Mike Sullivan, whose life was saved by Kingsley.

Kmiec is the only member of the crew still living.

Over the past 60 years, the Kingsley family cherished fond memories of a brother and the military honored him as a hero.

But there was also mourning in Bulgaria, which became a satellite nation of the Soviet Union. While the story of Kingsley's sacrifice was memorialized in America, it's rarely mentioned that the crash killed members of a Bulgarian family on the ground.

Villagers who knew the family are expected to be among those attending the dedication of a memorial Saturday at the tiny village of Suhozem, Bulgaria.

More about David Kingsley at Home of the Heroes.

Please remember the Canteen is here to honor, support and entertain our troops and their families.  This is a politics-free zone!  Thanks for helping us in our mission!

[SandRat]

1?

[Kathy in Alaska]

Please note: The author of the Hall of Heroes is StarCMC. Please thank her for today’s thread..

Medal of Honor Recipient: David Kingsley

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[Kathy in Alaska]

And in 1st.....Sand!!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Honoring Our Heroes

AbnSarge USA
Allegra
3 sons (armymarinemom and amdad)
Brett USN (CindyDawg)
Brother and Son-in-Law (kalee)
Cannoneer No. 4
CAPT Future Snake Eater USA (RightOnline)
CAPT Jason Clendenin (friend of Frou)
Chris USA (amom)
Chuck USA (RightOnline)
COL Mike (gpapa)
CMS USA
David USAF (LUV W)
Defender2
Deven USA (Shimmer)
Ethan USMC (georgiabelle)
Fred (DocRock)
GulfWar1Vet USA
IS2 Brianne USN (My Hearts in London - Everett)
IS2 Heather USN (My Hearts in London - Everett)
Jade Falcon USN
JemiansTerror USA (Jemian)
Jet Jaguar USAF
Joel (NEMDF)
Jonathan USMC (AZbushgal)
Josh USN (doug from upland)
Karen USA (fatima's granddaughter)
KB4W USAF (arbee4bush)
Kenneth (Sweetbaby/LadyPilgrim)
Kevin USMC (skimask)
Kevin and David USA (vigilante2)
Laurita USA
LCPL Carter USMC
Lindsay (Sweetbaby/LadyPilgrim)
LT David (Coldwater Creek)
M1911A1 USMC (M0sby)
M1Tanker
Major joma89 USAF
MEG33's Navy Grandson
Michael USAR (RightOnline)
Mike1Sg USA (mystery-ak)
Milo828 USA (mystery-ak)
Nate USN (sneakers)
Old Sarge USA
OneLoyalAmerican USCG
PFC Dan USA (son of swmobuffalo)
Robert, Jeremy, Daynnis USA (SoldierDad)
Sat-Com Chris USA (son of KC Burke)
SGT Brian USA (repubmom)
SGT Dusty USA (MountainDad)
SGT Ev USA (Mozie)
SGT Sean Reed (preed)
SGT Spencer USA (grame)
Son USCG (GodBlessUSA)
SPC Matt USA (repubmom)
SPC Mike USA (AbnSarge)
SSG Mitchel USA (tina07)
SSGT John Linde USA (JFoxbear)
Terrence USN (Sweetbaby/LadyPilgrim)
The Sailor
tongue-tied USN/USA
Tonkin USN/USCG
txradioguy USA
Valerie USAF (Shimmer)
Victor and Tony D USMC (weldgophardline)
William USA (jackv)

 

[Kathy in Alaska]

Kate Smith ~ God Bless America

[Kathy in Alaska]

Hello Veterans, wherever you are!!

[The Mayor]

Freep mail me to be on or off the Daily Bread ping list

September 22, 2008

Arms Of Love

ODB RADIO: Listen Now |  Download
READ: 1 John 3:16-20

Let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. —1 John 3:18

Many college students go on summer missions trips. But rarely does one come back with plans to rescue a baby. Mallery Thurlow, a student at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, went to Haiti to help distribute food. One day a mother showed up at the distribution center with a very sick infant in her arms. The woman was out of options. The baby needed surgery, but no one would perform it. Without intervention, the baby would die. Mallery took baby Rose into her arms—and into her heart.

After returning to the US, Mallery searched for someone to operate on baby Rose. Most doctors held out little hope. Finally, Rose was granted a visa to leave Haiti, and Mallery went back to get her. Detroit Children’s Hospital donated the $100,000 surgery, and it was successful. A little life was saved.

It’s unlikely that we will have such a dramatic impact on others. Yet challenged by this student’s willingness, we can find ways to provide help. She didn’t let circumstances, youth, or inconvenience stop her from saving Rose’s life.

Like Mallery, we are called to love “in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18). Who needs you to be God’s arms of love today?

When you see someone in need,
Love demands a loving deed;
Don’t just say you love him true,
Prove it by the deeds you do. —Sper

Compassion puts love into action.

Bible in One Year: Isaiah 52–54; Proverbs 29:8-20

[Radix]

 

This fellow perished in Service to us just days before his 26th birthday.

 

David = "Beloved" in the Hebrew

 

More on the citation.    Good link.

[BIGLOOK]

Aloha Night Owl!

[Kathy in Alaska]

He did that, Radix....and he had time to plan his actions.

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).”

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, Mayor....hope you and the family had a restful weekend. Thanks for today’s sustenance for body and soul.

[philly-d-kidder]

Happy Monday!!

[The Mayor]

Thanks Kathy I did, hope you did too.
I need to send you a fr mail.

[philly-d-kidder]

Kate Smith God Bless America..

[laurenmarlowe]

United States Marine Corps Band~National Anthem

[laurenmarlowe]

Marine Gen. James E. Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, shakes hands with Doris Jones of American Legion Post 70 at the Armed Forces Retirement Home, Washington, D.C. at the National POW/MIA Recognition Day ceremony at the Pentagon, Sept. 19. (Defense Dept. photo/Fred W. Baker III)

A members of Beachmaster Unit Two directs utility landing crafts from the amphibious assault ship USS Nassau Sept. 18 on the beach near Galveston, Texas to begin disaster relief efforts . The Nassau is anchored off Galveston to provide disaster response and aid to civil authorities as directed in the wake of Hurricane Ike. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Bennie J. Davis III)

Master Sgt. Regina Conrod sings to a girl during a Sept. 9 visit to a boarding school at Nizhanchuisk, Krygyzstan. The U.S. Air Force central Band Yuma performed there during their eight-day tour where they played at six schools, villages and orphanages and four concerts on base. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Master Sgt. Patrick McCracken)

[Kathy in Alaska]

Aloha, Hawaii....your guys pulled it out at the end.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Returned FR mail.

[StarCMC]

Thank you for posting Kathy — we’re somewhere near Paducah, KY on our way home. :-) Saw Ft. Campbell and thought of CMS.

[HopeandGlory]

Good morning Troops, Veterans and Canteeners.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Our Flag Flying Proudly One Nation Under God

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Lord, Please Bless Our Troops they're fighting for our Freedom.

I pledge allegiance to the Flag
of the United States of America,
and to the Republic, for which it stands;
one nation UNDER GOD,
indivisible,
with liberty and justice for all.

Prayers going up.

[Kathy in Alaska]

And in 2nd, snagging the silver...The Mayor!!

[Kathy in Alaska]

[Kathy in Alaska]

And rounding out the top 3....Radix!!

[The Mayor]

Thank you and Thanks for the input. I will check out your suggestion.

[Radix]

 

 

Aircraft Carrier made from Lego© blocks

 

See Link here.

[Kathy in Alaska]

My pleasure to post your great Hero thread while you are on the road. Be safe. Ft Campbell is his stateside home.

Thanking of you, CMS, and sending prayers for you and Mrs CMS.

[Kathy in Alaska]

THAT is an astonishing feat!!! Thanks for the link. I didn’t see where it said how long it took...USS Harry S Truman!! Simply amazing!

[TASMANIANRED]

Evening Kathy, Hugs.

Tomorrow is my big day.

Trying to spend the evening chilling.

[TASMANIANRED]

Evening Russ, Thanks for the daily inspiration.

[TASMANIANRED]

Evening Radix

[TASMANIANRED]

Evening Big Look

[TASMANIANRED]

Morning philly.

[TASMANIANRED]

Evening Lauren, Hugs.

[LUV W]

Saluting yet another gallant hero...
and you and Star for giving us his story!

[TASMANIANRED]

Evening Star, Hugs.

[TASMANIANRED]

Evening Hope

[LUV W]

“Tell me the story of Jesus,
write on my heart every word!”

Thanks for our beautiful lesson from God’s Word, Rus!
May we always put it to practical use like Mallory did!

[TASMANIANRED]

Evening Luvvy, Hugs.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Happy Monday to you, philly. Hope you have a sand free day. And congrats to your Eagles.

[LUV W]

Thanks for the great stories of our heroes doing their
everyday job of keeping us safe around the world, Lauren.

God bless them every one!

(((hugs)))

[LUV W]

Howdy, Sissy!

(((hugs)))

Are you finally rid of Ike’s “leftovers”?

My brother is back at home, with electricity and everything!
He lives in Seabrook, Tx.

[MS.BEHAVIN]

Thanks for tonites thread Star and Ma!
Just got off the phone with Sarge..
He’s okay, but is a little “junky” from allergies.
He wanted me to say “Hi” to everybody, and to thank you for thinking of him!
He forgot his Woobie, Ma!
I gave him the devil about it!
LOL

[LUV W]

MS. BEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

((((((((((hugs)))))))))

....and (((((hugs))))) for Sarge..our Knight..too! I’ve missed him!

How could he leave home without Woobie! It’s just not done! LOL!

[TASMANIANRED]

Our power was off for about an hour today.

They had to shut it off to get limbs off power lines.

We still have about 40k people without power.

One of my sisters dropped off a ton of stuff from the freezer for my girls. She didn’t want to trust it for people. It seemed frozen hard to me.

I’ll make dog food.

The area is still a mess. I’d be afraid to say how many trees are down.

[mylife]

Howdy Sarge! Ragweed is ripping me up too, but I gotta leave the windows open, the weather is Glorious!

[TASMANIANRED]

Evening Schatzi, Smooch.

Does Sarge have power?

Couple of days last week the National Guard was out directing traffic because so many lights were out.

I heard Sarge was called out but never heard where.

[TASMANIANRED]

Evening My.

[mylife]

Hi there you.

Longtime no see. You doing OK?

[The Mayor]

Thank you, caught me just before I settle in for the night.