Monument

John R. Towle

Name: Commemoration of John R. Towle
Start: 2025-09-21
End: 2025-09-21
Location: John R. Towle Monument

About the initiative

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Who is John R. Towle?

John Roderick Towle was born on October 19, 1924, in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. He grew up in a family with four children. In March 1943, shortly after his 18th birthday, he enlisted in the United States Army. He chose to become a paratrooper and was assigned to C-Company of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, part of the 82nd ‘All American’ Airborne Division.

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Operation Market Garden and the Role of John R. Towle

On September 17, 1944, the Allies launched Operation Market Garden, an ambitious military operation aimed at a rapid breakthrough into Germany via the Netherlands. The operation consisted of two parts: Market (airborne operation) and Garden (ground offensive). The 82nd ‘All American’ Airborne Division, which included John R. Towle, played a crucial role in this operation: securing the bridges at Nijmegen and Grave and the bridges over the Maas-Waal Canal for the advancing Allied ground forces.

Operation Market Garden and the Role of John R. Towle

On September 17, 1944, the Allies launched Operation Market Garden, an ambitious military operation aimed at a rapid breakthrough into Germany via the Netherlands. The operation consisted of two parts: Market (airborne operation) and Garden (ground offensive). The 82nd ‘All American’ Airborne Division, which included John R. Towle, played a crucial role in this operation: securing the bridges at Nijmegen and Grave and the bridges over the Maas-Waal Canal for the advancing Allied ground forces.

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Heroic Deed at Oosterhout

On September 21, 1944, during Operation Market Garden, Private Towle was with C-Company in a defensive line near Oosterhout, Netherlands. When a strong German unit, consisting of about 100 infantrymen, two tanks, and a halftrack, launched a counterattack, Towle took the initiative. Without orders, he left his cover and moved 200 meters under intense enemy fire to an exposed position along the embankment of the Waaldijk. From there, he fired his rocket launcher at both tanks, which then retreated. He then eliminated nine German soldiers who had taken cover in a nearby house. While reloading his rocket launcher to disable the halftrack, he was fatally struck by a mortar shell. His courageous action was crucial in stopping the enemy attack, thereby saving the lives of many comrades.

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Recognition and Remembrance

For his extraordinary bravery and sacrifice, Private John R. Towle was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, the highest military decoration of the United States. The medal was presented to his parents on March 15, 1945, during a ceremony at Fort Knox, Kentucky. John was buried at Calvary Cemetery in his hometown of Cleveland.

Initiative for the establishment of the monument