Hometown: Grand Island, NY
Branch: U.S. Army 
Unit: Company C, 325th Glider Infantry,
82d Airborne Division
Military Honors: Medal of Honor, Bronze Star, Purple Heart 
Date of Sacrifice: June 9, 1944 - KIA near the Merderet River, at la Fiere, France
Age: 22 
Conflict: World War II, 1939-1945

Born in Grand Island, New York, on November 30, 1921, Charles Neilans DeGlopper attended a one-room schoolhouse and graduated from Tonawanda High School—just across the Niagara River in the city of Buffalo.

In November of 1942, DeGlopper joined the U.S. Army and trained at Camp Croft, South Carolina. Assigned to the 82d Airborne’s 325th Glider Infantry, he was sent overseas to the European Theater of World War II in April of 1943. There he and his company served in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, and France.

In early June of 1944, the General Dwight D. Eisenhower—then Supreme Allied Commander in Europe—prepared his force of more than 73,000 Americans for an invasion of Normandy, determined to push back against Nazi Germany’s occupation of France.

In his now famous instructions to the troops, Eisenhower said, “You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you."

Three days into the D-Day invasion, DeGlopper landed behind enemy lines near the Merderet River, at La Fière, France. Soon cut off from their regiment, his platoon was outnumbered by Nazi soldiers and pinned down behind a hedge row.

To give his platoon a chance to escape, PFC DeGlopper jumped into the middle of the road and took a stand with a heavy automatic rifle—deliberately drawing enemy fire on himself. Even after being shot twice, DeGlopper continued to fire on German positions until his platoon escaped to a more advantageous position.

“Charlie” DeGlopper lost his life while bravely drawing enemy fire away from his platoon. For his selfless actions, DeGlopper was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. His citation reads:

The President of the United States, in the name of The Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Private First Class Charles N. DeGlopper, United States Army, for service as set forth in the following CITATION: He was a member of Company C, 325th Glider Infantry, on 9 June 1944 advancing with the forward platoon to secure a bridgehead across the Merderet River at La Fiere, France. At dawn the platoon had penetrated an outer line of machine guns and riflemen, but in so doing had become cut off from the rest of the company. Vastly superior forces began a decimation of the stricken unit and put in motion a flanking maneuver which would have completely exposed the American platoon in a shallow roadside ditch where it had taken cover. Detecting this danger, Pfc. DeGlopper volunteered to support his comrades by fire from his automatic rifle while they attempted a withdrawal through a break in a hedgerow 40 yards to the rear. Scorning a concentration of enemy automatic-weapons and rifle fire, he walked from the ditch onto the road in full view of the Germans and sprayed the hostile positions with assault fire. He was wounded, but he continued firing. Struck again, he started to fall; and yet his grim determination and valiant fighting spirit could not be broken. Kneeling in the roadway, weakened by his grievous wounds, he leveled his heavy weapon against the enemy and fired burst after burst until killed outright. He was successful in drawing the enemy action away from his fellow soldiers, who continued the fight from a more advantageous position and established the first bridgehead over the Merderet. In the area where he made his intrepid stand his comrades later found the ground strewn with dead Germans and many machine guns and automatic weapons which he had knocked out of action. Pfc. DeGlopper's gallant sacrifice and unflinching heroism while facing unsurmountable odds were in great measure responsible for a highly important tactical victory in the Normandy Campaign.

Among the memorials to Charles DeGlopper are a monument in France, not far from the spot where he fell. DeGlopper also has a dedicated exhibit in the Airborne Museum at Sainte-Mère-Église, France. The DeGlopper Air Assault School at Fort Bragg, North Carolina was named in his honor, though the school was later closed due to staffing and funding shortfalls.

Closer to his upstate New York home, the U.S. Army Reserve Training Center in Tonawanda was renamed the “Charles DeGlopper Center” in 1958. In 1962, American Legion Post 1346 dedicated Charles DeGlopper Park on Grand Island Boulevard. In 1965, VFW Post 9249 in Grand Island NY changed its name to the Charles N. DeGlopper Memorial VFW Post.

PFC DeGlopper’s courageous stand is depicted by sculptor Susan Geissler’s bronze statue, dedicated on June 5, 2021 at the Charles N. DeGlopper Memorial in Grand Island, New York.

Sources
Artist’s rendering: Craig Du Mez
Congressional Medal of Honor Society: Charles N. DeGlopper
Honor States: Charles Neilans Deglopper
D-Day Overlord: PFC Charles N. DeGlopper
Historical Marker Database: Charles N. DeGlopper
WGRZ TV, Buffalo, NY—Unknown Stories of WNY: Return 2 Normandy
DeGlopper Memorial
Susan Geissler, Sculptor: Pfc. Charles N. DeGlopper Monument - Grand Island NY
Burial Site: Find a Grave