Aubrey M. Temples

Aubrey M. Temples was born in Sulphur Springs, Texas, on April 18, 1924. In 1943 he enlisted in the United States Army at the age of 19. He received his basic training at Camp Wheeler, Georgia, and was deployed to the European Theater in Leicester, England, as a member of the 82nd Airborne Division. He participated in the D Day campaign, as well as the subsequent Market Garden airdrop, one of the largest in the history of warfare. He was wounded, was captured by German forces, and spent time in Stalag VIIa, near Munich. Prior to the end of the war, he was transferred to farm duty in the small village of Nussdorf, Germany, close to the Austrian border. At the end of the war he was the recipient of two Bronze Stars with Valor and two Purple Heart Medals. He returned to his home in Dallas, Texas.

In Dallas he went to work for the United States Postal Service where he eventually rose to the position of Manager of Mailings, dealing directly with the Postmaster General in Washington, D.C. In November of 1963 the clerical staff in Dallas asked if he would visit with a gentleman who was vociferously complaining about not timely receiving his mail-order package. The man was Lee Harvey Oswald, and while he was courteous enough during his visit with Aubrey, he would not disclose what he had ordered or from whom. The next day it arrived and now the whole world knows what it contained.

Mr. Temples died on October 8, 2017, at the age of 93, and after a packed funeral service in Dallas, he received full military honors at his burial in Sulphur Springs, Texas, his home-town. Prior to his passing, he was very involved with the publication of his memoir, Seeing Hitler - "Recollections" of WWII and Hitler, The War Experiences of Aubrey M. Temples. He granted numerous interviews to noted author and researcher, Peter David Orr, whose latest publication, Eyewitness To Hitler's Escape, was just released. Lastly, he was also an Advisor to a feature-length film currently in the development stage titled Lost Treasures of the Third Reich, the beginning of which is based on his eye-witness account of observing Hitler from just a few feet away, the day he was supposed to be committing suicide in Berlin.