Papers and photographs of Lawrence H. Templeton, a gunner with the 331st Bomb Squadron, 94th Bomb Group in Europe who survived a plane crash, evaded capture, and was helped back to Allied lines by French civilians. His reminiscences and other biographical information provide the details of his crash, escape, and evasion including being hidden in a barn, being presented as a deaf-mute to cover for his lack of French speaking skills, and arriving in Spain where he waited for recovery by U.S. forces. There are several letters, written in the early 1990s, exchanged between Templeton and the daughter of the family that aided him. Also in the papers are documents relating to his membership in the Caterpillar Club, a non-military association open only to people who have used a parachute to survive an emergency situation. Military papers, including paperwork regarding his extraction from France and Spain, provide details about his service in Europe and with the 485th Bomb Squadron, 501st Bomb Group in the Pacific theater in the last year of the war. Scattered post-war correspondence deals mostly with details of Templeton's wartime crash, the fate of the rest of the crew, his escape and evasion, and there are some forms from the 94th Bomb Group Association, of which Templeton was a member. An oversized folder contains a diploma for completed aerial gunner training. Photographs include shots of the French family that helped Templeton during the war and pictures of Templeton and his buddies while serving in Guam. Additional photographs show an elderly Templeton in uniform, holding the nose art from his B-17, as well as his passport photo taken during his extraction from Spain. Also included is a videocassette showing a reunion of the 94th Bomb Group Association.
