Oct 06 , 2025

Charles DeGlopper's Sacrifice on the La Fière Causeway

A man stands alone, ragged and bleeding, against a hailstorm of bullets and shells—his rifle blazing as comrades vanish into shadows, retreating from hell. That was Charles N. DeGlopper on June 9, 1944, when hell itself erupted near the French village of La Fière. His defiant stand didn’t just slow the enemy—it bought the lives of dozens. The price was his own.

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Faith Forged in Small-Town Soil

Born in Mechanicville, New York, in 1921, DeGlopper grew up in a world balanced on hard labor and deep faith. His family was Methodist, a quiet backbone of simple, earnest belief. Charles lived by a code older than armies. The same grit that tills soil shaped his spirit—steadfast, humble, relentless.

Before the war called, he labored as a truck driver and printer. But war changes men. It etches itself into their bones and prayers. For DeGlopper, his faith was a shield and compass. Not naïve hope, but a fierce conviction in duty and sacrifice.

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The Battle That Defined Him

By June 1944, DeGlopper was a private in Company C, 2nd Battalion, 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division. The Allies had stormed Normandy’s beaches. The fight to break German lines was brutal. On June 9, as American forces seized the La Fière causeway, German counterattacks surged like tidal waves.

As his unit began to pull back under intense machine gun and mortar fire, Private DeGlopper found himself isolated on the causeway’s narrow path. Without hesitation, he stormed forward with rifle and grenades, laying down suppressive fire.

He became a one-man shield, firing relentlessly from a prone position, exposing himself deliberately to enemy bullets and shells. His goal was clear: give his comrades the time to retreat to safety. His actions fixed the enemy’s fire, slowed their advance, and saved an estimated 50 soldiers.

His final radio call came through steady and calm. Then silence. DeGlopper died on that muddy causeway.

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Valor Carved in Bronze and Blood

DeGlopper’s actions earned him a posthumous Medal of Honor—the nation’s highest military honor. His citation describes his “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.” It highlights how his “fearless and repeated assaults against the enemy fire enabled his company to withdraw” and “saved many lives”[1].

His company commander, Major General Leonard Gerow, called him “a soldier of uncommon courage” whose “sacrifice was not in vain.” Fellow soldiers recalled his calm under fire and quiet determination, saying, “He gave us hope when none seemed left.”

He left no grand speeches. Just one more living testament: the ultimate cost of covering the retreat, of holding the line.

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Legacy Etched in Sacrifice

Private Charles N. DeGlopper’s stand is a lesson in unseen heroism. The man who saved a company by turning himself into a target was no mythic soldier—just a kid doing the hardest thing, choosing to stand when others fled, to sacrifice when survival tempted retreat.

The battlefield is a cruel crucible. But DeGlopper’s story is a beacon for those bound by duty and faith. It reminds us all that courage is often quiet—and that sometimes, the greatest victories come through giving everything for others.

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

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In every scar carried by a veteran, DeGlopper’s courage still echoes. He ran into fire, took the blows, and bought brothers the chance to live. That’s the brutal, redemptive truth of combat. That is legacy. That is honor.

And the causeway in Normandy still whispers the cost of courage—etched in blood, faith, and the unbreakable will to protect the men beside you.

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Sources

[1] U.S. Army Center of Military History, Medal of Honor Citation: Charles N. DeGlopper; WWII Valor Records

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