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Congressional
Medal of Honor
The little blue ribbon has 13 stars. Not an unlucky number, unless your name is King George. It was created at the time of the Civil War. The first one struck was for the Navy, then from the same die was struck the Army version. (The Navy medal has an anchor.) The title is a link to a page where you can look over the various editions. KINGSLEY, DAVID R. (Air Mission)
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
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.
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
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