Charles N. DeGlopper

Charles Neilans DeGlopper
  
Medal of Honor recipient
Born (1921-11-30)November 30, 1921
Grand Island, New York
Died June 9, 1944(1944-06-09) (aged 22)
Merderet River at La Fière, Manche, Normandy, France  †
Allegiance United States United States of America
Service/branch United States Army
Years of service 1942-1944
Rank Private First Class
Unit 325th Glider Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division
Battles/wars

World War II

Awards Medal of Honor
Bronze Star
Purple Heart
Digital painting by artist Jean-Pierre Roy (artist) specially commissioned for the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. It depicts Charles DeGlopper in World War II.

Charles Neilans DeGlopper (November 30, 1921–June 9, 1944) was a soldier of the United States Army who posthumously received the Medal of Honor, the highest award of the U.S. military, for his heroic actions and sacrifice of life during the early stages of the Battle of Normandy in World War II.

A Grand Island, New York native, DeGlopper was the only soldier from the 325th Glider Infantry Regiment to receive the Medal of Honor. He was also the only World War II soldier from the 82nd Airborne Division of the U.S. Army to receive the award for action during the Normandy Campaign.

82nd Airborne Division service

Charles N. DeGlopper entered the United States Army in November 1942. He trained at Camp Croft, South Carolina. He was deployed overseas in April 1943, where he served in North Africa, Sicily, Italy and France. He was ultimately killed in action on June 9, 1944 in La Fière, Manche, Normandy, France.

Medal of Honor action

In the late evening of June 6, 1944, the 82nd Airborne’s glider troops began to arrive in France staged from Aldermaston airfield, each involving hundreds of CG-4 Waco and Airspeed Horsa gliders and managed in code-named phases denoted: Mission Keokuk, Mission Elmira, and the final two glider landings were scheduled for June 7, 1944 during the morning hours in Missions Galveston and Hackensack which brought in the 325th Glider Infantry Regiment (325th GIR). Mission Galveston arrived in two serials of fifty gliders each and while the first had something of a disastrous landing, the second fared slightly better, but less than 50% of their equipment was recoverable. Mission Hackensack, the last to arrive, brought in the remaining 1,300 glidermen of the 325th GIR and their equipment. Also arriving in two serials, the gliders began landing on the 7th at 0900 in broad daylight. Despite the apparent destruction on the ground, the operation was a great success with most of the troops and nearly all of their equipment getting delivered to the battlefield. Nearly 90% of the 325th GIR’s men were assembled within a few hours of landing and moved towards Chef du Pont, France.

Leading his troops, regimental commander Colonel Harry Lewis was ordered to make a crossing of the le Merderet River and help attack the La Fière Bridge from the opposite side. Seeing a small fording area across the river, Col. Lewis sent his 1st Battalion to wade across under cover of darkness; their objective was to attack the force defending the bridge. Themselves under attack, C Company 1st Battalion was cut off from the rest of the battalion and despite himself coming under increased fire, Private First Class Charles DeGlopper stood up and began to fire his Browning Automatic Rifle at the attacking Germans in an attempt to suppress their fire and relieve the battalion.

Although wounded, PFC DeGlopper continued to stand and fire, and when hit yet again, still fired although kneeling and bleeding profusely. Meanwhile, as the Germans were distracted and occupied with PFC DeGlopper's automatic fire, the remainder of C Company was able to break off and head for La Fière to join the rest of their battalion.

For his self-sacrificial actions, Private First Class Charles DeGlopper posthumously received the Medal of Honor on February 28, 1946, the only member of the 82nd Airborne Division so honored in Normandy.

Awards and decorations

In addition to the Medal of Honor, Private DeGlopper was awarded the Bronze Star for "meritorious achievements in ground operations against the enemy" during the Sicily Campaign.[1] He was also awarded the Purple Heart for "military merit and wounds received in action resulting in his death."[2]

Medal of Honor citation

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[3]
Private
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 Fière, France. At dawn the platoon had penetrated an outer line of machineguns 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 machineguns and automatic weapons which he had knocked out of action. Pfc. DeGlopper's gallant sacrifice and unflinching heroism while facing insurmountable odds were in great measure responsible for a highly important tactical victory in the Normandy Campaign.[4]

Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Co. C, 325th Glider Infantry, 82d Airborne Division.
Place and date: Merderet River at la Fiere, France, June 9, 1944.
Entered service at: Grand Island, N.Y.
Birth: Grand Island, N.Y.
G.O. No.: 22, February 28, 1946.

Charles N. DeGlopper Remembrance Day

On June 9, 2002, on the island community of Grand Island, New York, the Charles DeGlopper VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) Post #9249 dedicated a new headstone on the grave of the island's native son, Charles N. DeGlopper, C Company, 325th Glider Infantry. The new marker recognizes the fact that Charles DeGlopper was awarded the Medal of Honor after his death during the Normandy invasion.

Timeline

Charles L. DeGlopper, the Private's father, receiving Medal of Honor from Major General Leland S. Hobbs in Trinity EUB Church - Lillis and William Bell standing to the left, and Arlie DeGlopper in the rear.
Father attends renaming of US Army Transport "Elgin Victory" to "Pvt. Charles N. DeGlopper" at Brooklyn Army Base.

Cultural references

The novel March Upcountry contains a fictional space ship, the Charles DeGlopper, in honor of Charles N. DeGlopper.

The physical training field between the barracks of 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment (the modern-day descendant of the Glider Infantry Regiment) is named DeGlopper Field

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "DeGlopper's Bronze Star citation". Archived from the original on October 27, 2009. Retrieved 2008-04-12.
  2. ↑ "DeGlopper's Purple Heart certificate". Archived from the original on October 27, 2009. Retrieved 2008-04-12.
  3. ↑ "DeGlopper's Medal of Honor certificate". Archived from the original on October 27, 2009. Retrieved 2008-04-12.
  4. ↑ "DeGlopper, Charles N.". Medal of Honor recipients: World War II (A–F). United States Army Center of Military History. Retrieved 2008-04-12.

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Army Center of Military History.
 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Army.

External links

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