Medal of Honor: John R. Towle, World War II, September 21, 1944

Name: John R. Towle
Rank: Private, U.S. Army
War: World War II
Date of Action: September 21, 1944
Unit: Company C, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division
Place: Near Oosterhout, Holland
Born: October 19, 1924, Cleveland, Ohio

Summary of Action

On September 21, 1944, during the fierce battles to secure the Nijmegen bridgehead in Holland, Company C of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment faced a powerful counterattack. Nearly 100 German infantry advanced, supported by two tanks and a half-track, threatening to overrun the paratroopers’ defensive line and collapse the fragile bridgehead.

Private John R. Towle, a rocket launcher gunner, understood the peril. Without waiting for orders, he left his foxhole and sprinted 200 yards through withering small-arms fire to an exposed position on a dike road. From there, he engaged both enemy tanks. Though his rockets failed to penetrate their armor, he damaged them enough to force their withdrawal.

Still under heavy fire, Towle spotted nine German soldiers fortifying a nearby house. With a single rocket, he killed all nine, breaking their strongpoint. Refusing to relent, he replenished his ammunition and rushed 125 more yards across open ground to confront the enemy half-track. As he knelt to fire, a mortar round struck, killing him instantly.

Private Towle’s fearless attack stopped the enemy counterstroke in its tracks, saving countless lives and securing the bridgehead for the Allied advance. His courage, tenacity, and self-sacrifice marked him as one of the finest examples of the airborne spirit.

Official Medal of Honor Citation

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty on 21 September 1944, near Oosterhout, Holland. The rifle company in which Pvt. Towle served as rocket launcher gunner was occupying a defensive position in the west sector of the recently established Nijmegen bridgehead when a strong enemy force of approximately 100 infantry supported by 2 tanks and a half-track formed for a counterattack. With full knowledge of the disastrous consequences resulting not only to his company but to the entire bridgehead by an enemy breakthrough, Pvt. Towle immediately and without orders left his foxhole and moved 200 yards in the face of intense small-arms fire to a position on an exposed dike roadbed. From this precarious position Pvt. Towle fired his rocket launcher at and hit both tanks to his immediate front. Armored skirting on both tanks prevented penetration by the projectiles, but both vehicles withdrew slightly damaged. Still under intense fire and fully exposed to the enemy, Pvt. Towle then engaged a nearby house which 9 Germans had entered and were using as a strongpoint and with 1 round killed all 9. Hurriedly replenishing his supply of ammunition, Pvt. Towle, motivated only by his high conception of duty which called for the destruction of the enemy at any cost, then rushed approximately 125 yards through grazing enemy fire to an exposed position from which he could engage the enemy half-track with his rocket launcher. While in a kneeling position preparatory to firing on the enemy vehicle, Pvt. Towle was mortally wounded by a mortar shell. By his heroic tenacity, at the price of his life, Pvt. Towle saved the lives of many of his comrades and was directly instrumental in breaking up the enemy counterattack.