Suhozem

Suhozem
Сухозем
Village
Suhozem is located in Bulgaria
Suhozem
Suhozem
Location in Bulgaria
Coordinates: 42°25′N 24°52′E / 42.417°N 24.867°E / 42.417; 24.867
Country Bulgaria
ProvincePlovdiv
MunicipalityKaloyanovo
Area
 • Total15.741 km2 (6.078 sq mi)
Elevation
248 m (814 ft)
Population
 (2015)
 • Total231
Postal code
4209
Area code031706
Vehicle registrationРВ
David R Kingsley memorial
The memorial close-up

Suhozem (Bulgarian: Сухозем [suxoˈzɛm]) is a village in the Kaloyanovo Municipality, Plovdiv Province, Bulgaria. As of 2006 it has 173 inhabitants.

The village finally has got a church from 2002 when the new "Sveta Sofia" is consecrated by the bishop Arsenius.

In 2004 a monument was built in the centre of the village to commemorate 7 local people and the American pilot Lt. David R. Kingsley, who perished during World War II in the vicinity of the village.

His American B-17 Flying Fortress bomber returning from raid in Ploiești was intercepted and shot down by 4 German fighters. When it fell to the ground it hit 7 villagers who were working on the field. Kingsley, a native of Portland, Ore., was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for giving up his parachute to a fellow crewman in the plane before the crush.

The monument raised mixed feeling among the locals, some of whom consider that there shall be no monuments for murders because it was known that the airplane had bombed the town of Karlovo.

42°25′00″N 24°52′00″E / 42.4166666767°N 24.8666666767°E / 42.4166666767; 24.8666666767