Along the street named in his honor.

The memorial consists of a large local boulder with an engraved plaque attached to the front and an information sign.

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.

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.

The memorial was dedicated in 2024.

Sources:

https://johnrtowlemonument.nl/en/

https://www.cmohs.org

https://www.4en5mei.nl/oorlogsmonumenten

The plaque on the boulder is engraved in Dutch and English.  The English reads:

'FALLS FOR OUR FREEDOM
FALLEN FOR OUR FREEDOM'

JOHN R. TOWLE
BORN:
19-10-1924, CLEVELAND, OHIO
KILLED IN ACTION:
21-9-1944, OOSTERHOUT, GELDERLAND'

The information board is written in Dutch and English.  The English reads:

SOLDIER JOHN RODERICK TOWLE WAS AN AMERICAN SOLDIER OF THE 504TH PARA INFANTRY REGIMENT, PART OF THE 82ND AIRBORNE DIVISION, AND RECEIVED THE HIGHEST AWARD FROM THE U.S. ARMY THE MEDAL OF HONOR FOR HIS DEEDS IN WORLD WAR II

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 two tanks and a half-track formed 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 nine Germans had entered and were using as a strongpoint, and with one round killed all nine. 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.