Feb 27 , 2026
Charles DeGlopper, Medal of Honor Hero at Normandy
Charles DeGlopper stood alone at the ridge’s edge, bullets lashing past like summer rain. Every breath burned his lungs, every heartbeat loud enough to drown out his screaming men behind him.
He was the last line — the living shield.
From New York Roots to Warrior’s Faith
Born in Richmondville, New York, Charles Neilans DeGlopper carried a quiet steel beneath his calm demeanor. The son of a small-town family, he grew up steeped in hard, honest work. The war didn’t find him; he answered the call.
Married with a young family waiting back home, DeGlopper’s compass pointed true north — faith, duty, brotherhood.
He held onto God like a lifeline in the chaos — a steady hand when everything else unraveled.
“The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer.” — Psalm 18:2
A rifleman in Company C, 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division, he went overseas carrying more than just his gear. He carried the weight of men relying on him, of families depending on their return. The battlefield would demand more than that.
The Battle That Defined Him: Normandy, June 9, 1944
Two days after D-Day, the 45th Infantry pushed through the haunted fields of Normandy, winding toward the village of La Fière. The Germans were dug in deep, their firepower savage and unrelenting.
Company C found itself ambushed, pinned down on the exposed ridge overlooking the causeway — the only path to retreat. DeGlopper’s platoon was ordered to pull back.
That’s when he made his stand.
He volunteered to cover the retreat, knowing every second his men gained meant life for some and death for him.
Armed only with a rifle, he stepped into the open — a single soldier standing against a storm.
Bullets tore into his body, yet he fired round after round. Machine gun nests screamed at him from all sides.
“Die before he wouldn’t shoot anymore,” a comrade would later say.
His action slowed the German advance, bought enough time for his platoon to scramble across the causeway, and saved dozens of lives.
DeGlopper’s last breaths came on that bloody field. He died a warrior — selfless to the end.
Medal of Honor: A Hero’s Price
His Medal of Honor citation paints brutal clarity in few words:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.
Posthumously awarded, DeGlopper’s medal honors a man who faced death to save his brothers-in-arms.
Lieutenant Colonel J. D. Harlan, commanding officer of the 157th Infantry Regiment, called his sacrifice, “a shining example of courage under fire.”
His story lives in military archives and combat histories, but more powerful still in the memory of those he saved and their descendants.
Legacy Forged in Valor
DeGlopper’s sacrifice is a quiet beacon — a reminder that heroism is not born in glory, but in grim resolve.
His name marks a bridge in Normandy, etched in stone and remembrance.
But it’s the faded letters his widow received, the whispered prayers from survivors, and the unyielding spirit of those who wear his legacy that carry the true weight.
Wars are written in the stories of men like DeGlopper — who give everything so others can live.
“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” — John 15:13
A Final Testament
Charles N. DeGlopper did not return home. His battlefield became his resting place.
But the man who chose death over surrender left behind more than medals.
He left a call to hold fast — in the fog of war or the trials of peace, stand firm for those who depend on you. To fight not for pride or glory, but for sacrifice.
In every scar borne by veterans, in every solemn silence honoring fallen comrades, his story echoes.
It is the story of a man who covered retreat with his life — so that others might march on.
Remember him, and carry that legacy forward.
Sources
1. U.S. Army Center of Military History, Medal of Honor Recipients: World War II 2. 45th Infantry Division Association, The Fighting 45th: History and Personnel 3. Congressional Medal of Honor Society, Charles N. DeGlopper Citation 4. Normandy American Cemetery Archives, La Fière Bridge Memoirs
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