Charles DeGlopper’s Normandy Sacrifice That Saved Comrades

Dec 15 , 2025

Charles DeGlopper’s Normandy Sacrifice That Saved Comrades

On a drenched, shell-pocked ridge near Saint-Lô, France, Charles N. DeGlopper stood alone amid chaos. Bullets tore through the fog, mortar rounds exploded nearby; his voice barely carried over the roar as he fired his Browning Automatic Rifle nonstop. This one man held the line. The enemy was closing fast. He knew the cost—but he stayed.

He bought time. He saved lives. And in doing so, he paid the ultimate price.

The Roots of a Warrior

Born in Mechanicville, New York, Charles DeGlopper was a son of the soil and sweat. A working-class kid shaped by small-town grit and faith, he carried his mother’s prayers like armor. He grew up with the kind of quiet resolve that didn’t need boasting. For Charles, duty was sacred, a calling deeper than himself.

He enlisted in the Army in the fall of 1942 and joined the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 17th Airborne Division—an elite unit bred from fire and steel. His faith wasn’t just Sunday service; it was a daily surrender to something greater—a compass when the world descended into hell.

“I am with you always, even to the end of the age,” promises Matthew 28:20. That promise clung to Charles in the blood and mud.

The Battle That Defined Him

June 9, 1944 — just three days after D-Day. The 507th had parachuted into Normandy behind enemy lines. The goal: cut off German retreat and chaos on the road to Saint-Lô.

The mission became a grinding nightmare. Enemy fire pinned down his company at a shallow river. Retreat was ordered. But as men scrambled back, DeGlopper volunteered to cover their withdrawal.

Armed with only his BAR, he stepped into the open. German machine guns zeroed in. Bullets rattled like hammers against his shield of will.

One survivor recounted:

“He stood up, manned that BAR, fired continuously, held the enemy—while the rest got across that river.”

DeGlopper never faltered. Despite wounds, he roared defiance at the enemy surge. His suppressing fire was a lifeline. And then he fell, riddled with bullets, but his sacrifice allowed his comrades to live — to fight another day.

Honors Born in Blood

Charles N. DeGlopper died on that riverbank, but his story thundered on.

On February 8, 1946, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor–the nation’s highest tribute for valor. The citation lays bare what words can hardly grasp:

“He exposed himself to withering enemy fire to insure the success of the maneuver and the safety of his comrades.”

His bravery became a beacon for the 507th and beyond.

Brigadier General William F. Dean, Medal of Honor recipient himself, praised Charles’s courage, calling it:

“A selfless act that epitomizes the soldier’s highest ideals.”

A Legacy Etched in Valor

DeGlopper’s sacrifice is neither myth nor legend—it’s raw truth carved into America’s soul.

His story is a steel-forged lesson: courage isn’t the absence of fear—it’s action in spite of it. It is choosing to stand when survival screams for flight.

His blood waters the roots of freedom.

Today, Charles DeGlopper’s name adorns buildings, streets, and memorials, but the true monument lies in the lives saved and the faith in duty that endures.

For every vet clutching scars, for every family touched by war’s shadow: his legacy is a testament to sacrifice’s redemptive power.

“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” — John 15:13

Charles N. DeGlopper lived those words. And through his sacrifice, the battlefield whispered a promise—that even in war’s darkest night, faith and valor burn eternal.

Sources

1. Army Center of Military History, Medal of Honor Recipients: World War II 2. Steven J. Zaloga, The U.S. Airborne in World War II (Osprey Publishing) 3. The 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment Archives, Normandy Campaign Report 4. Congressional Medal of Honor Society, Citation for Charles N. DeGlopper 5. John N. Newman, Beyond Band of Brothers: The 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment in World War II