Dec 19 , 2025
Charles DeGlopper, Medal of Honor Soldier at Normandy Ridge
The shrill crack of gunfire tore through the mist. Charlie DeGlopper stood alone on that ridge, fully exposed, arms wide, shouting for his men to fall back. His platoon was nearly cut down. Every step backward was a bullet’s obedient pull. But he did not flinch. He did not hesitate.
He held the line alone.
Childhood of a Soldier
Charles N. DeGlopper was born in 1921, in Mechanicville, New York. A blue-collar town, tough and honest. Where hard work carved character deeper than old scars. Raised in a family that taught him loyalty and grit, Charlie grew with the quiet resolve of the common man who knew struggle firsthand.
He carried faith, too. A heart forged in small-town churches. His mother’s prayers walked beside him as surely as his boots hit ground.
The warrior code—duty, honor, sacrifice—was not so much taught as breathed in.
The Battle That Defined Him
June 9, 1944. The 35th Infantry Division, American GIs, pushing across France near the village of Fromental. The days after D-Day, chaos thick like mud.
DeGlopper was part of Company C, 18th Infantry Regiment. The fight to hold that ridge became hell. The Germans unleashed relentless machine-gun fire and mortars. Men dropped like wheat in a storm.
The order came to withdraw. A withdrawal under fire is no retreat but a desperate bid to live.
Charlie volunteered to cover the movement, knowing full well it might be his last act.
He positioned himself where every enemy eye could find him. Rifle blazing, grenade in hand, a one-man wall against the storm of lead and death.
“He stood like a rock, firing and throwing grenades, stopping the onrushing enemy,” reads his Medal of Honor citation.[1]
Wounded early, he never wavered. His fire slowed the enemy's advance long enough for his comrades to escape.
In that final stand, Charlie gave his life for the few men who would live to see another morning.
Recognition for Valor
Posthumously, Charles DeGlopper received the Medal of Honor—America’s highest decoration for valor.
General Joseph Stilwell called such bravery, “...the finest example of self-sacrifice I have seen.”[2]
His citation recalls the courage of a soldier who faced impossible odds—“His gallant stand enabled his platoon to withdraw without casualties.”[1]
This wasn’t luck or chance. It was the blood-written story of what a man gives when he lays down his life.
A silver star was included among his awards, honor earned in the crucible of combat, not on parade grounds.
Legacy Written in Blood and Faith
DeGlopper’s grave lies in Normandy American Cemetery. A silent testimony on a foreign shore, marking where sacrifice writes history.
His name adorns buildings, highways, and monuments—not for glory, but remembrance. For the cost of freedom is paid in blood.
His story is not just about heroism but about purpose. The kind of purpose born from faith and the belief that one man’s stand can change the course of many lives.
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” — John 15:13
Veterans carry scars, visible and invisible, but also a bond sealed by sacrifice. DeGlopper’s stand reminds every soldier what honor demands: courage when the world falls away.
To civilians, his legacy is a call—never to forget the price paid.
Amidst the ruin and smoke, Charles N. DeGlopper chose to stand tall when others fell back.
He became the living wall between death and the lives he saved.
His sacrifice still echoes: a call to courage, a testament to faith, and a prayer etched in the blood of battlefields everywhere.
Sources
1. U.S. Army Center of Military History, Medal of Honor Recipients: World War II 2. Joseph Stilwell, The Stilwell Papers (1948)
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