Charles N. DeGlopper's Normandy Sacrifice That Saved His Squad

Dec 24 , 2025

Charles N. DeGlopper's Normandy Sacrifice That Saved His Squad

The whistle tore through the freezing air — a scream of steel and death.

Charles N. DeGlopper stood alone, a thin silhouette against the hellfire of Normandy’s fields on June 9, 1944. His squad was retreating, bodies piling up like broken trees. A dozen Germans waited behind a hedgerow, poised to cut down the last of the Americans.

No backup. No hope to hold the line, except one man willing to die so others might live.

The Boy from Mechanicville

Charles Neil DeGlopper grew up in upstate New York, a working-class kid with a fighter’s heart. Raised in a family rooted in faith and grit, he carried a quiet resolve, forged by small-town values and prayer.

Born in 1921, he was no stranger to hard labor or hardship. His faith wasn’t flashy but ironclad. It was a soldier’s faith — simple, steady, unyielding.

Often, he turned to scripture for strength:

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

A code etched deep within him, one he would live and die by.

The Battle That Defined Him

As a corporal in Company C, 325th Glider Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, DeGlopper parachuted into Normandy days after D-Day. The mission was brutal and chaotic — to seize and hold positions to open the way for Allied forces.

On June 9, near the village of La Fière, his unit came under withering enemy fire. The 82nd had to pull back, but Germans manned a hedgerow that would trap the retreat.

DeGlopper knew what had to be done.

With no hesitation, he charged forward alone, M1 rifle blazing. He fired from the hip, drawing enemy attention onto himself — a one-man wall of fire.

Bullets tore through his clothes, his flesh. His friends shouted for him to fall back. But he didn’t stop.

He provided the deadly cover his squad needed to retreat safely behind American lines.

He fired from a kneeling position, then prone, until he was hit and fell lifeless.

His final act was one of absolute self-sacrifice — holding the line with his own body as the shield.

Recognition Born in Blood

For his valor, Charles N. DeGlopper was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor — the nation’s highest military decoration.

His official citation reads:

“Corporal DeGlopper's gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty saved the lives of many of his comrades and provided an example of heroic self-sacrifice.” [1]

Brigadier General Maxwell D. Taylor, commander of the 82nd Airborne, called DeGlopper’s actions “the ultimate example of courage that inspires all who fight.”

Fellow paratroopers remembered him as quiet but fierce, a man who lived by principle even when death was the obvious end.

A Legacy Written in Sacrifice

DeGlopper’s death was not just a footnote in the shattered fields of France. It was a beacon — a rallying cry for brothers-in-arms who knew what giving your life truly meant.

His body lies at Normandy American Cemetery, a silent testament to the cost of liberty.

There is honor in sacrifice, but more so, there is purpose.

Every generation of soldiers stands on the shoulders of men like DeGlopper — those who understood faith is not mere words, but action in the face of mortal peril.

“Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for Thou art with me.” — Psalm 23:4

The battlefield is a crucible — where faith, courage, and sacrifice merge in fire.

Charles N. DeGlopper bled and died there so others might return home.

That sacrifice asks everything of us, whether we wear boots or not.

We honor him not only with medals or memories but by living lives worth the blood he spilled.

Sources

[1] U.S. Army Center of Military History, Medal of Honor Recipients: World War II [2] George Koskimaki, Order of Battle: The US Army in World War II [3] Thomas B. Allen, A Patriot’s Guide to the American Revolution (context for 82nd Airborne operations)