Nov 04 , 2025

Charles N. DeGlopper, Medal of Honor Hero at Merderet Bridge

The sky burned with tracer fire. The roar of machine guns was a demon’s whisper rising behind him. Charles N. DeGlopper stood alone, a two-man M1919 Browning on his hip, staring down the nightmare swallowing his platoon. Every step back risked their lives. He stayed. He fought. He died.

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Born of the Soil and Spirit

Charles Neil DeGlopper was raised in the heart of New York’s rural stretches — Cornwall-on-Hudson, a place carved from quiet trails and honest toil. His faith was barefoot simple, forged in church pews and family dinners: do right, hold fast, bear your burdens. These weren’t just words. They were the armor he wore.

Before the war, DeGlopper worked the land like his father before him. He was the kind of man you could trust to stand your watch through the cold dark. The grit of a farmer and the steel of a believer shaped his soul.

“Greater love hath no man than this.” (John 15:13) echoed in the back of his mind — his unspoken vow to put others before himself.

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The Battle That Defined Him

June 9, 1944. The muddy fields near Colleville-sur-Mer, France. Days past D-Day, and the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, clawed their way through hell. The enemy was desperate, savage, striking every weakening line.

DeGlopper’s platoon was ordered to fall back across a narrow, exposed bridge spanning the Merderet River. The Wehrmacht had zeroed in, unleashing a murderous hailstorm of machine gun and rifle fire.

Instead of retreating, DeGlopper fixed his machine gun on the enemy, crawling forward alone to cover his men’s crossing. Hours passed like fragile lifetimes. The bridge emptied.

He never wavered under the ceaseless fire.

When his comrades looked back, the position was a funeral pyre, and DeGlopper was the last man standing. Finally, the enemy’s rounds tore through him, but by then, the retreat was safe.

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Heroism Etched in Medal and Ink

For his death-defying stand, Charles N. DeGlopper was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously — the nation’s highest testament to valor.

His citation reads in part:

“Sergeant DeGlopper, with utter disregard for his own safety, remained in the fire-swept zone covering the withdrawal of his platoon. He was last seen firing his weapon until mortally wounded.”^[1]^

Brigadier General James M. Gavin, commander of the 82nd Airborne, called the stand “a testament to the courage and sacrifice that defined our airborne troopers.”^[2]^

“He held the bridge so others might live." — words heavy with salt and blood, reminding us when a man gives all, he changes the ground his boots first touched.

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Legacy in the Blood and Soil

DeGlopper’s sacrifice wasn’t a moment isolated in time. It carved a path for countless others to follow—a whisper through history that courage isn’t the absence of fear but the decision to act in spite of it.

The Charles N. DeGlopper Memorial Bridge in New York stands today, a silent monument to the man who gave everything for the men he called brothers.

“Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” (Matthew 5:9) — DeGlopper’s fight was not for glory, but for a peace wrought by sacrifice.

Every veteran knows loss shapes legacy. DeGlopper’s is a ledger balanced in blood, but rich in faith and purpose.

He didn’t just cover his unit’s retreat; he covered their future.

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War teaches harsh truths. Life demands hard choices. But some men leave these battlegrounds with their souls unbroken. Charles N. DeGlopper died standing tall, bearing the weight no man should ever carry alone—the weight of saving others with nothing left but grit and grace.

He reminds us: No greater love. No deeper sacrifice.

And in the silence after the guns fall quiet, his story rages on, a flame unwavering, a charge eternal.

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Sources

1. U.S. Army, Medal of Honor Citation, Charles N. DeGlopper. 2. Gavin, James M., Airborne Warfare, 1947.

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