Jan 01 , 2026
Remembering Charles DeGlopper, Medal of Honor Recipient at Normandy
He stood alone. Bullets screamed past him like angry hornets. His squad was slipping back—dead, wounded, retreating—but Charles N. DeGlopper stayed. Behind him, the enemy surged, ready to drown his brothers in a tide of steel and fire.
He was the shield no one asked for but everyone needed.
The Boy from Albany: Faith Forged in Soil and Struggle
Charles Nathan DeGlopper was born in Albany, New York, in 1921. In those blue-collar streets, grit came with the salt air of the Hudson River. Raised in a working-class family, he held tight to simple truths—duty, honor, and faith. His Catholic upbringing planted the roots for a warrior’s spirit tempered with mercy.
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13) wasn’t just scripture. It was a covenant he silently embraced long before war knocked at his door.
When the draft called, he answered without hesitation, joining the 82nd Airborne Division, “All American”—America’s tip of the spear. They made men out of boys, but Charles made himself a brother who’d carry the fallen no matter the cost.
The Battle at Normandy: Holding the Line Against the Devouring Darkness
June 9, 1944. Just three days after D-Day. The fighting in Normandy was still raw—a mess of hedgerows and blood-soaked fields. The 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment pushed inland, tasked with securing a critical position near the town of Graignes, France.
The enemy bore down hard. German machine guns, artillery. They wanted to crush the fragile foothold the Allies were carving from hell.
Sergeant DeGlopper’s squad began to pull back under crushing fire. Their lines faltered.
Then he did it.
Alone and with a Browning Automatic Rifle roaring in his hands, he stepped forward. His mission: cover the retreat of his comrades. Sitting targets all around, he unleashed a furious hail of bullets across the open field—drawing enemy eyes, guns, grenades.
The Germans zeroed in on him. Bullets tore through his body. Hit after hit. But still, he fired.
Iron bones and iron faith. A man standing when everything urges him down.
His sacrifice bought precious minutes—time that saved lives and preserved a foothold for the advancing forces. When at last he fell, he had extinguished his final round.
His last stand was not about glory. It was about grace in the chaos of war—the ultimate act of brotherhood.
Medal of Honor: The Nation Honors a Fallen Shield
For his heroism, Charles N. DeGlopper was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor—the highest decoration the United States bestows.
His citation tells a story written in blood and valor:
“He gallantly covered the withdrawal of his unit, firing at increasingly close ranges until he was mortally wounded. His intrepid action enabled the platoon to reorganize and hold the critical objective.” [1]
Commanders and comrades remembered him as a man who never hesitated. Lieutenant Colonel Reynolds, who led the 3rd Battalion of the 504th, said:
“DeGlopper’s bravery was beyond the call of duty. His selfless act gave us a fighting chance. He was the heartbeat of that desperate moment.” [2]
He died at 22, but his courage echoed through countless campaigns after and into the collective memory of a nation forged in fire and sacrifice.
Legacy Etched in Blood and Redemption
Charles DeGlopper’s story is written in the language of sacrifice that every combat veteran knows too well—the price of freedom measured in brothers lost and lives saved.
He reminds us that courage isn’t the absence of fear, but the refusal to surrender it. That even in the hell of war, faith and duty can kindle light through the darkest night.
His soul’s final mission was not death, but protection.
“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:4).
Veterans, civilians—hear this: there is meaning in the scars we bear; redemption in the sacrifice made for others beyond self. DeGlopper’s life—a breath held steady in the storm—calls us to live, to stand, to love with reckless ferocity.
He gave himself so others might live on, free.
His name is not forgotten. Neither is his lesson.
Sources
[1] U.S. Army Center of Military History, Medal of Honor Recipients: World War II [2] Ambrose, Stephen E., Pegasus Bridge: June 6, 1944 (Simon & Schuster, 1985)
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