b. 26/05/1920 Omaha, Nebraska. d. 17/07/1943 Sicily.
DATE OF MOH ACTION: 09-10/07/1943 Sicily.
John J Parle MOH
Parle was born on May 26, 1920, in Omaha, Nebraska. His parents, Harry and Mary Parle, went on to have eight more children, one of whom died in infancy.
As a boy, Parle was seen by those who didn’t know him well as solemn and shy, but at home, his parents said he was full of wisecracks, according to a 1943 Omaha Evening World Herald article. The newspaper said that in the eighth grade, Parle decided he wanted to be a Catholic priest and even attended a seminary to prepare. However, it wasn’t the right fit for him, so he came home after a few months. Parle continued to want to be a priest through most of high school, but by the time he graduated, he’d given up on the idea. Instead, he went to Creighton University in Omaha, where he studied to be a certified public accountant.
In 1941, during his junior year of college, Parle joined Creighton’s ROTC program. By January of 1942, the U.S. had entered World War II, so he enlisted in the Naval Reserve. After graduation, Parle began training at the University of Notre Dame, which had one of four midshipmen training centers that were set up during the war. He commissioned into the active-duty Navy on January 28, 1943. After an initial assignment in Norfolk, Virginia, Parle was assigned to the Northwest African Amphibious Force and attached to LST-375, a landing ship that delivered troops and equipment to beachheads. Parle was the ship’s officer in charge of small landing boats during the invasion of Sicily.
On July 9, 1943, the night before the invasion, Parle’s ship was among tens of thousands of Allied forces preparing for the surprise landing. Around 1:30 a.m. on July 10, his LST had started to swing its smaller landing craft onto the ship’s small cranes to prepare to lower them into the water. One boat was loaded with ammunition, explosives, detonating fuses and smoke pots, which were used to create large smokescreens that troop ships could hide behind. One of those smoke pots accidentally ignited. No one was on the boat, but Parle just happened to be walking past when the smoke pot caught fire. He knew that if it ignited any of the rest of the material on the boat, it would explode, causing a massive fireworks display that would give away the force’s position to the enemy onshore.
Without hesitating, Parle jumped onto the small boat. Despite the fire and blinding smoke, he quickly managed to snuff out the burning fuse; however, he couldn’t seem to put the actual pot out. He eventually grabbed it with both hands, ran to the side of the boat and threw it into the water. Smoke pots were generally made of fog oil, diesel fuel and other noxious materials, of which Parle inhaled an extensive amount. Sadly, he died a week later, on July 17, due to the damage the smoke pot inflicted on his lungs.
However, Parle’s actions kept the small boat from exploding, and more importantly, it ensured that the mission stayed secret. The invasion of Sicily went on to be a success for the Allies and gave U.S. troops a route onto mainland Italy. The victory delivered a devastating blow to Italian dictator Benito Mussolini’s fascist government and eventually toppled his regime.
Parle was quickly nominated for this country’s highest military honor. On January 26, 1944, Parle’s parents received the Medal of Honor on his behalf from Capt. Dixie Kiefer during a high mass at St. John’s Catholic Church on the Creighton University campus. Parle’s body was eventually returned to the U.S. and buried in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Omaha.
MOH CITATION:
For valor and courage above and beyond the call of duty as officer-in- charge of small boats in the U.S.S. LST 375 during the amphibious assault on the island of Sicily, 9-10 July 1943. Realizing that a detonation of explosives would prematurely disclose to the enemy the assault about to be carried out, and with full knowledge of the peril involved, Ens. Parle unhesitatingly risked his life to extinguish a smoke pot accidentally ignited in a boat carrying charges of high explosives, detonating fuses and ammunition. Undaunted by fire and blinding smoke, he entered the craft, quickly snuffed out a burning fuse, and after failing in his desperate efforts to extinguish the fire pot, finally seized it with both hands and threw it over the side. Although he succumbed a week later from smoke and fumes inhaled, Ens. Parle’s heroic self-sacrifice prevented grave damage to the ship and personnel and insured the security of a vital mission. He gallantly gave his life in the service of his country.
BURIAL LOCATION: HOLY SEPULCHRE CEMETERY, OMAHA, NEBRASKA.
SECTION R, BLOCK 2, DIVISION NORTH, LOT 28A, GRAVE 1.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: CREIGHTON UNIVERSITY, OMAHA, NEBRASKA.
