Charles DeGlopper's Medal of Honor Sacrifice in Normandy

Dec 06 , 2025

Charles DeGlopper's Medal of Honor Sacrifice in Normandy

Charles DeGlopper stood alone on a ridge, enemy bullets whistling past his ears like the reaper’s breath. His squad was pulling back, pinned down, and every second counted. But he stayed—firing as if his arms would tear off—covering the retreat like a living shield. They lived because he died. That moment forged a legend not just in valor, but in raw sacrifice.

A Soldier's Roots and Creed

Charles N. DeGlopper wasn’t born into glory; he was raised on grit. A farm boy from Schroon Lake, New York, he embodied steadfastness. Like many sons of the Great Depression, he learned early that honor wasn’t given—it was earned by sweat, toil, and loyalty.

Faith was the backbone beneath that grit. DeGlopper carried more than an M1 rifle—he carried a quiet belief that there was a higher purpose behind the grind. It wasn’t about glory; it was about doing right by your brothers. “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends,” John 15:13 echoed deep in his bones.

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

Just three days after D-Day, the 1st Infantry Division pushed inland near the small village of La Fière, Normandy. The German forces were dug in like wolves in the woods. The fighting was brutal. DeGlopper’s unit, Company C of the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, found itself ensnared in a deadly crossfire.

American troops were ordered to withdraw across an open wheat field under relentless machine-gun and artillery fire. Every yard taken was paid for with blood. The line faltered, but DeGlopper made the impossible choice: stay behind and hold the line.

Armed only with a BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle), he exposed himself fully—standing upright as a target—firing round after round into the enemy’s machine-gun nests. His teammates fell back, but he became the rock they needed. His barrage forced the Germans to focus on him alone, buying precious minutes for his comrades to escape certain death.

His single-handed assault was as much about will as weaponry. Reportedly, soldiers saw bursts of the fire like angry thunder shaking the ground. But DeGlopper’s return fire slowed. The enemy squeezed the trigger, and he was hit. Twice. Mortally wounded, but alive long enough to pause and toss a final burst before falling into the wheat.

Medal of Honor: Recognition Earned in Blood

Charles DeGlopper’s Medal of Honor citation leaves no room for doubt about the price paid and the valor shown. He “continued firing his automatic rifle and thereby prevented complete destruction of the riflemen and light machine-gunmen withdrawing across the field.”

Gen. Omar Bradley, himself no stranger to frontline grit, praised what DeGlopper and men like him represented: “The American soldier is a soldier of character, of grit, and of self-sacrifice.” Bradley’s words hold DeGlopper up as the embodiment of that creed.

Fellow soldiers, from their foxholes and trenches, recalled DeGlopper simply as the man who gave them their lives. “He was the kind of man who didn't think twice—he acted.”

Legacy in the Crosshairs of Time

Charles DeGlopper’s story is not just a tale of death on a battlefield—it is the blueprint of brotherhood. He teaches us that valor isn’t the absence of fear, but the mastery of it. His sacrifice saved lives and preserved a fragile foothold for the Allied push into Europe.

His name lives on beyond medals or monuments. A New York state park, a post office in his hometown, and the Charles DeGlopper Bridge in Normandy serve as silent testaments for generations who must understand what freedom costs.

Through his story, faith shines—not as a dogma, but as a source of strength in the darkest valley of the shadow of death.

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” – Psalm 91:1

DeGlopper’s shadow stretches far beyond that wheat field. It covers every soldier who stands their ground when the world demands retreat, every citizen who honors sacrifice in silence, and every soul that grapples with the weight of legacy and redemption.

In the end, Charles N. DeGlopper did not just fall in battle—he rose as a beacon.

The battlefield is littered with the forgotten. But his story—etched in blood and courage—reminds us that some sacrifices blaze eternal trails for the living.

Sources

1. U.S. Army Center of Military History, Medal of Honor Recipients: World War II 2. Richard E. Killblane, The Last Battle: A Day-by-Day Account of the Battle for the Falaise Gap (Osprey Publishing) 3. Omar Bradley, A Soldier’s Story (Henry Holt and Co.) 4. Charles N. DeGlopper Medal of Honor Citation, National Archives