• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

University of Portland Museum

  • Home
  • About
  • This Day
    • Library Dedication, 1958
    • KBVM 88.3 FM: 25 Years
    • Gute Reisen
    • Veteran’s Day
    • Fire on Campus
    • Engineering Building
    • Outbreak of World War I
    • Orphan Holiday
    • Lewis and Clark
    • Feast of the Annunciation
    • Rotary Phone Day
    • Howard Hall Fire
    • Feast of St. Joseph
    • Reservists Send-off
    • Br. Raphael Wilson Inauguration
    • Rev. David Tyson Inauguration
    • UP Becomes Fully Co-educational
  • Featured
    • Pomp and Conga-lines
      • Let Us Commence
    • 2018 Retiring Faculty
      • 2016 Retiring Faculty
      • 2015 Retiring Faculty
      • 2014 Retiring Faculty
    • De-ja-vu All Over Again
    • Future War
    • Lunch Room to Night Spot
    • Pilots Choose Their Own Course
    • Broken Wall Memorial is Broken
    • Sanctuaries
    • 2nd Century: Second Wave
    • UP Pep Band
    • Extended Hours
    • TGIF all-class
    • No frogs were hurt in this demonstration
    • Inauguration 2014
    • Freshmen 15
    • Orientation at the UP Campus
    • Upsilon Omega Pi Hearse
    • Schoenfeldt Writers Series
  • A Given Life
    • The Pioneer Four
    • Flowering in the Rose City
    • Rev. Richard Berg, C.S.C.
    • Rev. John Molter, C.S.C.
    • Sisters of Mary of the Presentation
    • Holy Cross Leadership
    • Rev. John Delaunay, C.S.C.
    • Holy Cross at UP
    • Sr. Angela Hoffman, O.S.B.
    • Rev. Art Schoenfeldt, C.S.C.
    • Rev. George Dum, C.S.C.
    • Rev. Maurice Rigley, C.S.C.
  • In the Beginning
    • Rev. John A. Zahm, CSC: Name-dropper, Promise Keeper
    • Cornerstone West Hall
    • Founder’s Day
    • Another Day
    • Day One
  • UP Trivia
    • NCAA or NAIA, First Nat’l Title Revisited
    • Medal of the Year
    • Hanging Up the Pads
    • Football
    • Cannons on the Bluff
    • Pilots on the Bluff
    • Columbia Prep, 1901-1955
    • Hours and Bases
    • domainname.com
    • Wally Pilot
    • 50 Years: A-Meh-zing Mehling
    • Broken Wall Memorial
  • Exhibits
    • Museum Photo Gallery 2
    • Football on the Bluff: 1902-1950
    • Mago Hunt Center 40th Anniversary
    • Salzburg Trips
    • Museum Display in Buckley Center
  • Memorials
    • In Memory: Brian Doyle, November 6, 1956 – May 27, 2017
    • In Memory: Rev. Charles David Sherrer, C.S.C., September 21, 1935 – April 13, 2017
    • In Memory: Rev. Ronald Wasowski, C.S.C., March 31, 1946 – December 5, 2016
    • In Memory: Dr. James T. Covert, April 20, 1932 – October 13, 2016
    • In Memory: Dr. Manuel “Manny” Macias, March 25, 1929 – March 19, 2016
    • In Memory: Dr. Kate Regan
    • Martha Wachsmuth: 1921-2015
    • Memoriam: Rev. Tom Oddo
    • Remembering Dr. David Alexander, 1957-2013
  • Elections
    • Campaign Trail: President Ronald Reagan, 1984
    • Campaign Trail: Robert F. Kennedy, 1968
    • Campaign Trail: Nelson Rockefeller, 1964
    • Campaign Trail: John F. Kennedy, 1960
    • Campaign Trail: Harold Stassen, 1952
  • UP Athletics/Olympics
    • Rudolph (Rudy) Scholz, Olympic Gold Medalist
    • Discus
    • Swimming
    • Women’s Tennis
    • Tennis
    • Soccer
    • University Olympians
    • Hurdles
    • Trampoline
    • Golf
    • Track Shoes
    • Weightlifting
    • John Murphy, Olympian
    • Archery
    • Boxing
    • Fencing
    • First University Olympian

Honor and Remembrance

November 9, 2017 By Carolyn

Each Veterans Day Air Force and Army ROTC cadets from the University of Portland keep a 24-hour vigil at the Praying Hands/Broken Wall Memorial near Christie and Kenna Halls.  The Memorial Circle remembers those from Columbia Preparatory School, Columbia University, and the University of Portland who gave their lives in war-time.  In this post we remember one of those men, Second Lieutenant David R. Kingsley, Columbia Prep student from 1933-1936, who fought and died in World War II.

2d Lieutenant David R. Kingsley (right) (Kingsley family photo)
Columbia Prep Junior Class, 1936 Columbiad (University Museum – click to enlarge)

David Kingsley knew about sacrifice from the early age of 10 or 11 after his father died from an automobile accident while helping a neighbor, AND after putting aside his own need for medical treatment insisting that his passenger be seen first.   And again, when David’s mother was paralyzed from cancer, and he assumed the role of father and mother to care for his seven younger brothers and sisters, giving up sports and study at Columbia Prep one year short of his graduation.

But the sacrifice which cost the young lieutenant his life came when Kingsley’s crippled plane was under attack over Romanian oil fields during World War II in June 1944.   When crew members were hit by enemy fire, Kingsley tended to the wounded on board.  Under orders to bail out of the badly damaged plane, Kingsley placed parachutes on the injured, but when too few were found, he removed his own parachute in favor of an injured soldier and released him to safety.  Without a chute for himself, Kingsley perished with the plane — four days before his 26th birthday.

Columbia Crusader, vol. 8, no. 6, February 1945 (University Archives)

The Congressional Medal of Honor was posthumously awarded to 2nd Lieutenant David R. Kingsley on April 9, 1945.  (Full citation)  In 2004, the David R. Kingsley Memorial was erected on the crash site in Romania. 

Kingsley Field Air National Guard Base in Klamath Falls, OR is named to honor his valor.

Kingsley Memorial, Suhozem, Bulgaria (Wikipedia)

 

 

 

 

For related posts on the Broken Wall and Veterans Day Observance:
https://sites.up.edu/museum/veterans-day-observance/

https://sites.up.edu/museum/broken-wall-memorial-1990-2015/

https://sites.up.edu/museum/broken-wall-memorial-is-broken/

Sources:
“The Making of a Hero” by Christopher Boehme, Portland magazine, Summer 1989;
Wikipedia; United States Army Center of Military History

 

 

 

Filed Under: Featured 1 Comment

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. AvatarFr. James Connelly, C.S.C. says

    November 10, 2017 at 5:41 pm

    What more do you know about the Kingsley Memorial in Bulgaria?

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to this site via email


Highlights from the Museum

Central Catholic v Columbia Prep, October 24, 1948

Hours and Location

University of Portland Museum
014 Shipstad Hall

Open:
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 8:30 am to 2:30 pm
Wednesday 8:00 am to 2:00 pm
Also by appointment

Recent Posts

  • Taste of UP for Families
  • Prophecy and Visions
  • The Bells Are Ringing
  • In Memory: Rev. Claude A. Pomerleau, C.S.C., August 16, 1938 – July 21, 2019
  • Campus Archaeology: On the Shoulders of Giants

Archives

Contact Information

Carolyn Piatz Connolly
Museum Coordinator
University Museum MSC 015
5000 N. Willamette Blvd.
Portland, OR 97203
503.943.8038
piatz@up.edu

[footer_backtotop]

Copyright © 2019 · University of Portland