Charles DeGlopper Medal of Honor Hero at Normandy's Bloody Ridge

Nov 11 , 2025

Charles DeGlopper Medal of Honor Hero at Normandy's Bloody Ridge

The roar of bullets sliced the morning mist. Charles DeGlopper stood alone, a living wall between death and his retreating brothers. The sole defender on a ridge, he emptied his weapon into the charging enemy, each shot marking the price of their survival.

He didn’t flinch.

The Boy from Mechanicville: Roots of a Warrior

Charles Neil DeGlopper was born on April 2, 1921, in Mechanicville, New York — a small town carved from steel and sweat. Raised in a blue-collar family where hard work was law, faith was quiet but unwavering.

A Catholic upbringing grounded him, but it was the grit of his community that forged his will.

“Duty above self” wasn’t just a phrase; it was a creed planted deep in his marrow. Before the war claimed him, DeGlopper worked the rails and lived like a man who knew the value of honest labor—and sacrifice.

Bloody Ridge: The Day He Bought Time

On June 9, 1944, two days after D-Day, DeGlopper’s 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, pushed inland near the tiny hamlet of La Fière, France. The fight was brutal. German forces swarmed from entrenched positions, hunting every American soldier inch by inch.

When his comrades were ordered to fall back from their position on a vital ridge overlooking the Fière Bridge, DeGlopper made a brutal choice. He volunteered — or, by necessity, was chosen — to stay behind and cover the withdrawal.

Alone, under a withering machine-gun barrage and mortar fire, he held the line. Each burst he fired slowed the enemy’s advance, buying precious minutes for his company to regroup and live.

His weapons jammed twice under fire. Twice he fixed them, gritted his teeth, and fired back. He expended every round he carried into the enemy’s face, refusing to yield an inch.

In this horrific stand, DeGlopper was mortally wounded, but not before his sacrifice saved nearly 200 men from certain death or capture.

The Medal of Honor: Words That Could Never Fully Tell

On October 30, 1944, without DeGlopper to receive it, President Truman awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously. His citation highlights raw courage devoid of any flash or ego:

“With the advance of the battalion slowed to a halt by withering artillery and small-arms fire, Sergeant DeGlopper remained alone on the ridge providing covering fire while the rest of his unit withdrew. Despite mortal wounds, he continued firing until his weapon was empty and until he was rendered incapable of further resistance.”

His company commander, Major Charles K. MacGill, said of him:

“There is no greater honor than to follow the footsteps of Sergeant DeGlopper. His valor was a beacon.”

This wasn’t just heroism for headlines. It was pure blood debt paid. It was one man becoming the shield for many.

The Legacy in the Scars

DeGlopper’s story doesn’t end at the ridge. His sacrifice echoes in the stories veterans tell — the weight of survival carried by the saved, the persistence of sacrifice in every quiet moment after the guns fall silent.

The Charles N. DeGlopper Memorial Bridge in Mechanicville stands as a stone reminder that one man’s stand can hold against the heavens themselves.

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” — John 15:13

His life was short, but his stand was eternal.

Charles DeGlopper died fighting alone, but he saved a legion. His scars make us remember that such sacrifice isn’t myth or legend — it is the raw reality behind every inch of freedom claimed by American arms.

His story is a solemn call to remember the cost, to honor the red price paid so we might walk freely. We stand on his ridge now, under his shadow—never forgetting the price of their fight.

In the end, what echoes longest is not the roar of guns, but the silence left by a single man’s courage.

Sources

1. Department of Defense, Medal of Honor Citation, Charles N. DeGlopper 2. 1st Infantry Division Archives, After-Action Reports, Normandy Campaign 3. MacGill, Charles K., Testimony and Letters, National WWII Museum Collection 4. "Medal of Honor Recipients: WWII," U.S. Army Center of Military History