World War II veteran David Kingsley is being honored and remembered this Memorial Day by Portland Fire & Rescue. It's been 78 years since Kingsley gave the ultimate sacrifice when he gave his parachute to a fellow airman and went down with his plane.

Portland Fire & Rescue has connected with Kingsley's niece three years after finding a piece of history at Portland Fire Station 13 near the Lloyd Center. That piece of history tied Kingsley back to Portland.

Three years after getting a Facebook message from Battalion Chief Mike Tilden, Leslie Kingsley Jones sat at a table at Portland Fire Station 3 on Monday. She flipped through pictures and old news articles with her daughter of her uncle David Kingsley.

“I got the Facebook message from Captain Tilden on Christmas night back in 2020 and he was like, 'Weird question, are you related?' And I’m like yeah he was my uncle," Kingsley Jones said.

Her uncle was a Portland firefighter before going off to fight in World War II in 1942. Tilden was cleaning the fire station when he came across an old 1940s "Oregon Firefighters" journal.

Tilden found Kingsley's picture inside and little did he know Kingsley was a Portland native and a former firefighter.

“I put it in a safekeeping, so safe three years ago, that I’m still looking for it," Tilden said.

It was the first time he heard of Kingsley's story and he wanted to know more. In 1944, Kingsley was "killed in action" when he went down with his plane after giving his parachute to a fellow airman who ended up surviving. Mike Sullivan was the man that survived to tell the tale of what happened on that day during combat. Kingsley Jones met Sullivan in 1995 but she said he didn't want to talk about what happened on the plane, but he did keep Kingsley's name tucked in his wallet all these years later.

“It is a cool legacy to have in the family, but again, it cost him his life. I can see where he or any of the Kingsley kids probably would have done the same thing," said Kingsley Jones.

The Kingsley family has a list of family members that have survived after their now-famous uncle. The family went back to Bulgaria in 2005 and found pieces of the plane Kingsley went down in. It's a keepsake they now all hold close.

Tilden told KATU News, the City of Portland vowed to honor Kingsley's name in 1945 and that's what Portland Fire is looking to do 77 years later.

“The city resolution required Kingsley’s name to be placed in a place of honor within the city archives and I think that a way that we can do that and honor that resolution is by naming our Gold Medal of Valor the Kingsley Medal of Valor and that would be my hope," said Tilden.

Kingsley Jones was left almost speechless when she learned that's what Portland Fire wanted to do to remember her uncle.

“That’s stunning to me," Kingsley Jones said. "Wow, it's an honor."

Portland Fire now models its recruitment after David Kingsley.

“We understand to give one’s life for another person is the ultimate sacrifice and on Memorial Day you have to really think about what that means and recognize the sacrifice and service that not only Kingsley but we all do here every day," Tilden said.

Kingsley's name is also on the Air National Guard Base in Klamath Falls where some of the most advanced fighter wings will train.