Harry Downing Temple

TEMPLE, HARRY DOWNING (Age 92)

Of Blacksburg, VA, died Tuesday, February 24, 2004. HARRY TEMPLE was born at Elizabeth City County, VA (now a part of the city of Hampton) on October 24, 1911, the son of John Clarence Temple and Henrietta Elosie Johnston Temple. He took part in the Normandy Invasion as a Lieutenant Colonel and served in five combat campaigns: Normandy, Northern France, Rheinland, Ardennes and Central Europe. During the Korean War, he took park in three combat campaigns: UN Summer-Fall Offensive, Second Korean Winter, and the Korean Summer-Fall 1952. His last five years of active duty were as Commanding Officer of The Institute of Heraldry, United States Army. He personally designed coats of arms, seal and banners for 32 Episcopal cathedrals, where those coats of arms may be seen in the vaulted ceiling of the cathedral's aisles. Among his services for the White House, he personally designed and had fabricated for President John F. Kennedy, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civil decoration. Graveside services will be conducted Friday, March 5, 2004 at 10 a.m. in the Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA. Arrangements by McCOY FUNERAL HOME, Blacksburg.