"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 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 insurmountable
odds were in great measure responsible for a highly important tactical
victory in the Normandy Campaign."
From Pfc. DeGlopper's Medal of Honor citation, awarded on February 28, 1946.
Thank you for your service and may you be at peace,
Brian
DeGlooper's defense by Jean-Pierre Roy
Memorial at the La Fiere causeway.
Memorial in La Fiere, France.
Charles N. DeGlopper Memorial Park in Grand Island, New York.
Charles DeGlopper VFW Post #9249 in Grand Island, New York.
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