Charles DeGlopper's Normandy sacrifice and Medal of Honor

Jan 25 , 2026

Charles DeGlopper's Normandy sacrifice and Medal of Honor

Charles N. DeGlopper stood alone in the open field. Bullets ripped the air. Every breath tasted like fire and dust. The line was breaking. Retreat meant death for the men behind him. He did not hesitate. He became a one-man shield, a living blade of defiance against the falling storm.

A Soldier Born of Quiet Strength

Born in 1921, Charles DeGlopper grew up in Greenville, New York. Raised in modest roots but rich in values. A quiet faith underpinned his every decision—a soldier’s faith, forged not in the grand gestures but in steadfast, daily commitment. The boy who left for war carried the creed of Psalm 23, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death...” His courage was never reckless. It was tempered by reverence, by a clear understanding of sacrifice.

The army was no stranger to him when he enlisted in the 11th Airborne Division, later assigned to the 82nd Airborne’s 325th Glider Infantry Regiment. A tight-knit brotherhood of paratroopers shaped his grit. DeGlopper embraced the silent code—protect your own, never falter under fire, and put the mission above your life.

Bloody Harvest on Normandy’s Fields

June 9, 1944. Just three days after D-Day, the Allies were still clawing into Normandy behind the hedgerows. The battle-hardened 325th faced savage resistance near the small French village of Les Forges.

The 3rd Battalion began to falter under heavy German fire. Men were pinned, cut down by machine guns and artillery. The order came: withdraw.

DeGlopper volunteered to stay behind to cover their retreat.

"I don't know what came over me," one survivor recalled, "but when Chuck went back, we thought we were going to lose him for sure. That man was made of iron."

He grabbed a Browning Automatic Rifle and set a one-man perimeter. Standing tall against the storm of bullets, he fired relentlessly, drawing the enemy’s fury. For ten minutes, he held that field alone—until a burst of machine gun fire split the air and took him down.

His sacrifice bought time for his platoon to escape the deadly trap.

Medal of Honor: Valor Beyond the Call

Posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, DeGlopper’s citation tells the brutal truth of his courage:

“His gallant determination and heroic action in holding the enemy fire and enabling the withdrawal of the battalion prevented the possible destruction of the battalion.”

General Ridgway, commander of the 82nd Airborne, praised him as “a soldier who gave all that a man could give.”

In the words of his comrades, DeGlopper was “the quiet fire beneath the storm.” Not just a hero in the moment. A guardian spirit for all who knew him.

A Legacy Etched in Blood and Honor

Charles DeGlopper’s story is not merely a tale of battlefield heroism—it’s a testament to the raw human cost behind medals and honors.

Scars run deep. Every man who fought beside him carried the weight of his last stand. His sacrifice echoes in every hesitant soldier who doubts their own strength, in every veteran wrestling with the ghosts of the fight.

His legacy is not glorified warfare but the brutal price of freedom and the pledge to never let a brother fall alone.

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

Redemption in Sacrifice

DeGlopper’s death was the darkest kind of loss. Yet, from that sacrifice came a light that still burns fiercely in the souls of warriors. His footprints mark the narrow path where duty meets faith. Where courage is not the absence of fear but the will to face it head-on.

His story asks something essential of us all: to hold our own in the crucible of chaos, to bear the scars with dignity, and to live in a way that honors those who cannot walk beside us any longer.

Charles N. DeGlopper gave everything so others might live. That blood-stained field at Les Forges remains silent—but not forgotten.

Sources

1. U.S. Army Center of Military History, “Medal of Honor Recipients, World War II” 2. Thomas L. Crouch, The 82nd Airborne in World War II, Smithsonian Institution Press 3. Richard E. Killblane, Wartime Valor: Soldiers and Their Stories from the World Wars, Military Press 4. General Matthew B. Ridgway, Chapter on 82nd Airborne leadership, The Ranger’s Path, Ivy Books