Other memorable experiences include a time when Mr. Templar
marched through the Arc de Triumph with the famed allied general
Dwight D. Eisenhower, which was “a big event,” in Mr. Templar’s terms.
Also, Mr. Templar and his comrades helped to liberate a Polish women’s
prison camp. However, Mr. Templar’s military service also had its share
of death and sadness.
Harold Templar’s scariest memory of the war is when he was shot
while clearing a mine field for supply trucks, and Harold can also
remember a time when a comrade shot himself while playing Russian
Roulette. Yet finally, when the war ended, Harold Templar was still
alive. Looking back, he says, “It was a hell of an experience. We had to
keep our country clean. I think we did a terrific job at it.”
Mr. Templar was on a ship bound for Japan when his company
and he heard the war in Europe was over. Later, Mr. Templar found out
that the war in the Pacific had ended when his company and he were on
a ship in New York harbor. Mr. Templar remarks that his whole company
broke down in tears when they saw the Statue of Liberty, and he says,
“the ride back [to America] was very emotional.” Once out of the
military, Harold returned to his hometown of Elmira and worked in a
reformatory. He says that life was never the same after the war, but he
doesn’t say if this is good or bad. After his return, Harold says that he
“felt totally drained, and knew that life was for real now.” Harold
describes this feeling by saying that “[now] you’ve been there and done
that.” Mr. Templar never had children. The point that Mr. Templar wants
people to remember about the war was to never bring a war to America;
go over there and fight.
Mr. Templar’s final thoughts on the war are simple, yet
pointed. World War II changed Harold’s life by making him realize,
indeed, that “life is for real.” Also, Harold says that he learned to “stay
warm” in the war. Generally, Mr. Templar is enthusiastic about his role in
the war, and evidently proud that he helped “keep our country clean.”
Finally, Mr. Templar wants people to remember to keep any war away
from America, so our country could never be damaged.
There are only so many survivors of the second World War. On
Wednesday, March 28, 2001, one of these survivors was interviewed at
the Horseheads Middle School library in Horseheads, New York. This
survivor is Mr. Harold Templar of Elmira, New York, who was an army
engineer in Europe during World War II. Harold Templar was born on
April 16, 1919 and is currently eighty-two years of age.
Before the war broke out, Harold Templar worked at the
Coca-Cola factory in Elmira. He was living his life in Elmira with his
wife. Mr. Templar was outside shoveling snow (“We got twelve inches
that year,” Harold remarks,) when he first heard of the Japanese
bombing of the Naval station at Pearl Harbor. Harold Templar left his
friends and family behind to work in the war, but he knew it was all
for a good reason. Harold was leaving to serve his country.
Near the end of 1943, Harold Templar was drafted to be an army
engineer. First, Mr. Templar was sent to Binghamton, New York, and
then to Fort Niagara. Here, he was assigned to an outfit of army
engineers that built bridgeways, and was sent to Europe with the 1013
treadway bridge outfit. Also in Europe was Harold’s brother, whom
Harold fondly describes as being always “one step ahead of me, or
else I was one step ahead of him.” In Europe, Mr. Templar was
always moving to different places. One particularly
memorable experience for Mr. Templar was building a large bridge
over the Rhine River.