Honoring MOH Recipient, Charles N. DeGlopper… again.

This is posted via my blog, and the research comes from Kriste who posts there and wrote this piece.

PFC Charles N. DeGlopper, Company C, 325th Glider Infantry, 82nd Airborne Division

Thanks to the efforts of Paul Mullen, a 64-year-old Vietnam War veteran, Fort Bragg has stepped up and done the right thing. They’ve returned Private First Class Charles N. DeGlopper to his original place of honor on post. In June of 2010, a portion of “DeGlopper Street” on Fort Bragg was renamed “As Samawah Street” in honor of the battle fought in that Iraqi city by soldiers of the 325th Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division in April, 2003.

The battle for As Samawah was hard fought –at times, house to house, and most deserving of a place of honor in the history of the 82nd Airborne Division. However, I agree with Mr. Mullen; it should not be at the expense of Pfc. Charles N. DeGlopper who received the Medal of Honor posthumously for his actions during the Battle for Normandy.

In an article in the Fayetteville Observer , Mr. Mullen stated, “It was definitely the right thing to do… When you read the story of this guy – besides the fact he gave up his life – his life was so special. We should not try to diminish his honor at all.”

Amen. He is truly “Someone You Should Know”. You can listen to family members talk about Charles’ life and service here. Last year, in honor of the 66th anniversary of D-Day, they traveled to Normandy along with veterans from the VFW Post that bears his name. They had been invited to place a wreath upon a memorial for DeGlopper, which was built by the French.

In addition to the Medal of Honor, Pfc. DeGlopper was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously for “military merit and wounds received in action resulting in his death” and the Bronze Star for “Meritorious Achievement” during the Sicily Campaign of 1943.

Rest in peace, Private; the torch has been passed and a new generation of the 325th is manning the walls.

Private First Class Charles N. DeGlopper’s Medal of Honor 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 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 unsurmountable odds were in great measure responsible for a highly important tactical victory in the Normandy Campaign.

Category: Politics, Veterans Issues