David Woods Kemper

Birthplace: Kansas City, Missouri

Branch of Service: Army

Unit: 1st Armored Division, 81st Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron (Mechanized)

Theater of Operation: European

Highest Rank: 1st Lieutenant

Honored By: The Eisenhower Foundation

David Woods Kemper was born in Kansas City, Missouri, to James M. Kemper, Sr., and Gladys Woods Rubey. James M. Kemper, Sr. was an incorporator of The Eisenhower Foundation, signing the first meeting page in July of 1945.

David was the valedictorian of his class at Pembroke Country Day School where he enjoyed all forms of athletics, particularly horsemanship. After undergraduate study at Harvard and graduate work at Stanford, he enlisted in the army in 1942. His first assignment in the Calvary was followed by a shift to the Armored Division.

David was killed on the Italian battle front in WWII, just a few days after he sent word to his father that he was “back in action” after a previous injury. Italy surrendered just days after David’s death.

His younger brother, James Kemper, Jr., left his studies after Pearl Harbor to enlist in the first cavalry division as a first lieutenant. He served with distinction in the South Pacific, receiving a Purple Heart and leaving the army in 1945 as a captain.

The David Woods Kemper Memorial Foundation was established in 1946, by his father James M. Kemper, Sr., and his brother, James M. Kemper, Jr. Since then, the foundation has assisted numerous organizations around Kansas City in memory of David Woods Kemper.