Charles DeGlopper's Medal of Honor Sacrifice at Normandy

Dec 30 , 2025

Charles DeGlopper's Medal of Honor Sacrifice at Normandy

The roar of German guns thundered across the valley, smoke choking the morning air. Charles N. DeGlopper alone stood between the enemy and his fleeing comrades. In that fractured silence of hell, he held the line—a single rifle against a tide of death—and gave his life so others could live.

Roots Carved in Grit and Faith

Charles was no stranger to hard ground. Born in Mechanicville, New York, in 1921, he grew up amid blue-collar grit and quiet resolve. Raised in a working family with strong Christian values, DeGlopper carried a simple, unshakable code: protect your brothers, do your duty, and trust God even when the smoke blinds your eyes.

His faith wasn’t something he wore like a medal. It was the backbone when fear crushed hope. A letter to his mother confessed his dependence on prayer to face the unforgiving brutality ahead. This wasn’t naive comfort. It was armor forged in the fires of conviction.

The Battle That Defined Him: Normandy, June 9, 1944

Just three days after D-Day, Company C, 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment—part of the legendary 1st Infantry Division—faced a nightmare in the hedgerows near La Fière, Normandy. Their position came under crushing attack by German armored forces.

The order came: retreat. These men, soaked in mud and fear, had nowhere to go but backward—under relentless machine-gun and mortar fire.

DeGlopper, a rifleman, stayed behind. Alone. Exposed.

He fixed his bayonet and charged through the fields, firing on the enemy with deliberate, ruthless precision. Each shot was a prayer and a warning. His sacrifice drew German fire to him, allowing the rest of his company to slip away.

Witnesses later said his stand covered the withdrawal of at least 50 men. He kept that bloody corridor open with a courage that denied death its victory—for a moment longer.

An enemy bullet found DeGlopper as he emptied his rifle, falling just yards from the safety of his comrades.

Beyond Valor: The Medal of Honor

Posthumous Medal of Honor awarded, November 1, 1944.

The citation describes what can scarcely be captured in mere words—how Charles N. DeGlopper “single-handedly held off an attack by a superior force, allowing his comrades to withdraw to safety.” His “extraordinary heroism” and “devotion to duty” saved countless lives at the cost of his own.

Generals and fellow soldiers echoed the truth: “It was not just bravery, it was the purest selflessness.” Colonel Walter J. Muller, commander of the 16th Infantry, said, “DeGlopper gave his life to cover the retreat. His sacrifice was the difference between death and survival for many.”

The man who died in the hedgerows became more than a footnote. He became a symbol—an eternal echo of sacrifice sewn into the fabric of that victory.

The Enduring Legacy: Courage, Sacrifice, Redemption

Charles DeGlopper’s story bleeds through the decades because it lives in every soldier who has stood fast against overwhelming odds. His courage was not reckless. It was precise. Purposeful. It was a call to those left behind: live with honor, fight with heart, embrace sacrifice with no regret.

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

This scripture isn’t just a verse—it is the raw, stained truth of DeGlopper’s final acts. His battlefield became his pulpit. His sacrifice, a sermon of redemption and hope.

Today, the Charles DeGlopper Memorial Bridge in Mechanicville stands as a solemn reminder. But monuments cannot hold the weight of his sacrifice alone. It finds meaning in the lives of vets who struggle home from war, and the civilians learning to cherish freedom won in blood.

To know DeGlopper is to know why we remember. To honor him means to not forget battle’s cost—the silence after the gunfire, the empty boots, the stories told in whispers.

Charles N. DeGlopper’s stand on that fateful morning was not the end. It was a beginning.

May his story light the way through darkness.

Sources

1. U.S. Army Center of Military History, Medal of Honor Recipients: World War II 2. 1st Infantry Division Archives, History of the 16th Infantry Regiment, Normandy Campaign 3. Hamel, Charles M., The Bloody Lane: A Chronicle of the 16th Infantry 4. Congressional Medal of Honor Society, Citation for Charles N. DeGlopper