David R. Kingsley

In the month of December of 2019, the 173rd Fighter Wing at Kingsley Field Air National Guard Base brought an F-15C to Edwards Air Force Base, California for a Heritage paint job that was used to commemorate Kingsley. The entire process was captured on video and uploaded to Edwards Air Force Base's YouTube channel on Friday, January 10, 2020.

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 sister Phyllis Kingsley Rolison was at the dedication as was friends of the family killed when Kingsley's plane crashed.

The Klamath Falls Airport in Klamath Falls, Oregon 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.

A firefighter before the war, Kingsley joined the Army Air Forces from Portland, Oregon in April 1942, and by June 23, 1944 was a second lieutenant serving as a bombardier in the 97th Bombardment Group, Fifteenth Air Force. On that day, during a raid over Ploieşti, Romania, his aircraft was badly damaged and several crewmen wounded by fire from enemy fighters. When the pilot gave the order to bail out of the crippled plane, Kingsley voluntarily gave up his parachute 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 General Ralph P. Cousins.

David Richard Kingsley (June 27, 1918 – June 23, 1944) was a United States Army Air Forces officer and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in World War II.