| On July 9, 1943, USS LST 375 was operating in the Mediterranean Theater as part of the Western Task Force for the invasion of Sicily. The Task Force was assigned to land three Army divisions on the southeast corner of the island. The Task Force approached the coast of Sicily during the evening of July 9, 1943. Soon after midnight, on the morning of July 10, most of the invasion force was in position to mount the assault. As H-Hour approached, the Axis forces still had no idea that the Allied armada was off shore. Any slip could have revealed the presence of the Allied force and endangered the landings. At that moment, Ensign Parle discovered a smoke pot had accidentally ignited in a small boat loaded with high explosives, detonating fuses and ammunition. If those explosives were to detonate, it would have endangered his ship and revealed the presence of the Allied fleet to the enemy. Undaunted by fire and blinding smoke, Ensign Parle entered the craft and extinguished the fuse. After failing in his desperate efforts to extinguish the fire pot, he finally seized it with both hands and running topside threw it overboard. Although he succumbed a week later from smoke and fumes he inhaled, Ensign Parle's heroic self-sacrifice prevented grave damage to his ship and its crew and insured the security of the invasion. He gallantly gave his life in the service of his country. For valor and courage above and beyond the call of duty Ensign Parle was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
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USS LST 375 
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