Charles N. DeGlopper and His Stand That Earned the Medal of Honor

Dec 19 , 2025

Charles N. DeGlopper and His Stand That Earned the Medal of Honor

Charles N. DeGlopper stood alone, the last line of defense amid a hellish storm of bullets and mortars. His voice called out over the deafening war cries—not to rally, not to fight, but to buy time. Each step forward was a death sentence. Every breath drawn was a prayer. He knew the price. He paid with his life.

Blood Ties: The Making of a Warrior

Born July 29, 1921, in Mechanicville, New York, Charles DeGlopper was no stranger to hard work or sacrifice. A son of modest means, he carried the plain-spoken values of duty, honor, and faith in his bones. Raised in a country still nursing from the Great Depression, his grit was forged in resolve, not comfort.

A devout man, DeGlopper’s grounding wasn’t just grit but grace. “Be strong and courageous,” whispered the pages of scripture he’d lean on—Joshua 1:9—not as a slogan, but as lifeblood. The soil of his faith birthed a quiet, unyielding courage. His personal code was clear: protect your brothers. No hesitation.

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

Two days after the D-Day landings, the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment moved inland with ferocity. The 2nd Battalion, including DeGlopper’s Company C, was tasked to seize a vital crossroads near Gravelle, France. The objective? Cut off the Germans and pin them down for the follow-on assault.

Enemy fire ripped through hedgerows. American troops found themselves trapped, pushed back toward the Rue de Variable. Casualties mounted. The withdrawal order came, but a retreat without cover meant slaughter.

DeGlopper volunteered to cover the fallback—a near-suicidal mission. Armed with a Thompson submachine gun, he charged boldly into the open field to draw the enemy's fire. His solitary stand drew bullets and grenades, forcing the Germans to focus on him and away from his comrades.

Witnesses described him as a force of nature, firing relentlessly until he was overcome by a burst of machine-gun fire.

He was fatally wounded, but his sacrifice saved nearly all of his unit. Without his stand, the task force would have been decimated.

Recognition: Sacrifice Etched in Bronze and Words

Charles N. DeGlopper’s actions earned posthumous Medal of Honor recognition. The citation is terse, but every word burns with truth:

“He volunteered to cover the withdrawal of his company... by gallantly standing his ground, firing into the enemy at point-blank range... He was last seen firing, with no thought of his personal safety...”

Army General James Gavin, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, called DeGlopper’s stand “a shining example of the sacrifice that defines an American soldier.” Fellow paratroopers recalled his grit and humility. They spoke not of medals, but of a man who acted without hesitation, embodying the warrior's ultimate creed: to die that others might live.

Legacy: Blood, Faith, and Endurance

DeGlopper’s name is etched in American military history—not just for what he did, but why he did it. His story is a brutal reminder that courage isn’t just heroism on film. It is agony. Fear. Death. But more than that—faith and choice.

He bore the scars we don’t see: the weight of responsibility, the loneliness of the final stand. His sacrifice speaks to the warrior’s paradox—fighting so the innocent may survive, falling so others may rise.

“Greater love hath no man than this...” (John 15:13)

The Medal of Honor is not just metal. It is a covenant with history and conscience. Veterans today stand on shoulders made bloody by men like DeGlopper—men who chose service over self, sacrifice over safety.

His battlefield is a hallowed ground beyond Normandy’s hedgerows. It lives in every veteran’s story, in every citizen’s call to remember that freedom demands a price.

Charles N. DeGlopper reminds us that redemptive courage is born not in the absence of fear, but in the mastery of it.

No one fights alone if we carry their memory. No legacy is lost if we honor the cost.

Sources

1. U.S. Army Center of Military History, Medal of Honor Recipients: World War II 2. Ambrose, Stephen E., D-Day, June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II 3. 82nd Airborne Division Association, Charles N. DeGlopper Profile and Medal of Honor Citation