WW2 Operation Husky Fallen - Medal of Honor hero John Parle, LST 375

Ensign John Parle, who served on LST 375 during the invasion of Sicily, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6404320
https://www.navsource.org/archives/10/16/160375.htm 

John Joseph Parle never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.

If you have enjoyed reading the stories of the WW2 fallen, Can you help write some stories? It's a big project. The more help, the better.  Announcing "The Stories Behind the Stars", see https://www.storiesbehindthestars.org. This crowd-sourced national project has the goal of compiling stories of all 400,000+ of the US World War 2 fallen in one free-to-access central database. We are going to need a lot of volunteers. Anyone visiting a war memorial or gravesite will be able to scan the name of the fallen with a smartphone and his story will appear on the phone.

John was born on May 26, 1920 in Omaha, Nebraska. His parents Harry and Mary (who lived to be nearly 99) were born in Missouri and Iowa, respectively. His father worked as a telephone electrical engineer. John had one older sister, three younger brothers, and three younger sisters. By 1940 John had completed one year of college and was still living at home.

He volunteered for the US Navy through the US Naval Reserve ROTC program at Creighton University. He became an ensign on USS LST 375. This Landing Ship Tank was launched in January 1943. Ensign Parle was one of a crew of just over 100 men.

LST 375 first saw action in the Allied invasion of Sicily. On July 10, 1943 Ensign Parle was made the Officer-in-Charge of Small Boats. He noticed a smoking pot has been prematurely lit, creating a plume of smoke that would be visible to defenders on the Sicilian beaches. He tried unsuccessfully to put out the fire and then lifted the smoking pot and threw it overboard. He breathed in a fatal amount of smoke.

Ensign Parle succumbed to his woulds on July 17, 1943. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

His citation reads as follows:

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.

His grave is at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Omaha, Nebraska. The date of July 10 appears to  be incorrect.

Thank you Ensign Parle for your sacrifice. Let's Earn It for John.

Last year on this date I profiled John Pekny, 3rd Armored Division. You can read about John here.

On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!

I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.

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