Charles N. DeGlopper’s Medal of Honor Stand in Normandy

Oct 29 , 2025

Charles N. DeGlopper’s Medal of Honor Stand in Normandy

He stood alone on that crumbling ridge, under an unrelenting hail of German fire. Every breath burned like ash. His squad was pinned down, ordered to pull back across an open field slick with rain and blood. Charles N. DeGlopper chose to stay. His rifle barking deafened the crack of death itself, buying seconds that meant lives. Seconds that would never have come. He died so others lived.

The Making of a Warrior: Humble Roots and Iron Resolve

Charles Neil DeGlopper was born in 1921, in Carthage, New York. Raised in a working-class family, he knew the weight of hard work and the quiet dignity of service. The values of duty, loyalty, and faith were stitched into his soul long before he saw combat.

Friends remember a steady, calm young man—never brash but unshakably determined. His faith wasn’t mere words but a lived creed, a shield against fear.

_“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”_ — Joshua 1:9

Those words echoed in his heart, carried with him to foreign fields where bullets tore earth and bone alike.

The Battle That Defined Him: Normandy’s Bloody Gamble

June 9, 1944. Three days after D-Day, the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, fought to seize a vital crossroads near La Fière, Normandy. The battle line fractured beneath ferocious German counterattacks. Allied forces wavered and orders came down: pull back.

DeGlopper’s platoon began retreating across an exposed meadow—no cover, just open green soaked by the dawn’s rain. Enemy machine guns and mortar rounds swept the field.

Without hesitation, DeGlopper charged back forward alone, firing his M1 Garand rifle. He sprayed the enemy with suppressive fire, buying the precious seconds his platoon needed to reach safety.

Witnesses described the grim scene: his body silhouetted as he fought against the tide, bullets tearing flesh, yet still he pressed on—in the face of certain death.

When the guns finally fell silent, Charles was gone. His sacrifice saved dozens of lives.

Medal of Honor: The Nation Remembers a Brother-in-Arms

On October 5, 1944, Charles N. DeGlopper received the Medal of Honor posthumously. His citation ran with a brutal clarity:

“While his platoon was withdrawing under intense fire, Pfc. DeGlopper remained behind to provide covering fire. Although mortally wounded, he continued to fire, allowing his comrades to reach safety.”

Commanders and fellow soldiers spoke of him as a “quiet hero,” a man who “gave all without hesitation.”

Colonel William E. Ekman, the battalion commander, called him:

_“One of the finest soldiers I have ever known.”_

The highest tribute rarely told in parades is written in blood and grit—DeGlopper’s name is etched among those who stood firm when all else fled.

Legacy of Sacrifice: More Than a Medal

Charles DeGlopper embodied the brutal calculus of war: sometimes courage is measured not by glory but by the cost. He traded his life so others might live to tell the story.

What does it mean to live with such sacrifice? To bear scars invisible and not ask why?

His story teaches that heroism is raw, unsentimental. It’s the willingness to face death quietly, out of love for brothers, country, and purpose greater than self.

Every veteran who has braved hell knows the truth in DeGlopper’s fight: redemption is wrestled from chaos.

_“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”_ — John 15:13

Charles N. DeGlopper’s final stand remains a stark testament—a beacon in the fog of war. He did not choose the easy path. He chose the honorable one.

Today, his sacrifice whispers a challenge: what battles do we fight with courage? What legacy do we leave when the smoke clears?

The faint echo of his rifle fire carries still, a call to stand unflinching before fear, for some lives are saved only by the blood of those who held the line alone.

Sources

1. U.S. Army Center of Military History, Medal of Honor Recipients: World War II 2. 82nd Airborne Division Archives, The Battle for La Fière, Normandy, June 1944 3. Congressional Medal of Honor Society, Charles N. DeGlopper Citation