Bells to toll for Charles DeGlopper, 12 other Medal of Honor recipients

Bells will ring across America in honor of Grand Island’s Charles DeGlopper and 12 others who earned the Medal of Honor during D-Day.

Next week on June 6, the 75th anniversary of the World War II invasion, the National Medal of Honor Museum will commemorate the 13 American men who earned the Medal of Honor for their heroic actions in the D-Day invasion. Bells will toll on June 6 at 2 p.m. Eastern time. Organizations across the country will toll their bells 13 times to honor the 13 men.

On Grand Island, Trinity United Methodist Church, St. Stephen Roman Catholic Church, and the Grand Island Town Hall will all join in this effort.

DeGlopper, born in Grand Island, was one of the 13 soldiers to receive the Medal of Honor for his service during WWII. He saw action at La Fiere, France. Pinned down in a roadside ditch, DeGlopper took it upon himself to support his comrades with 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 enemy Germans, and sprayed the hostile positions with assault fire. DeGlopper was killed outright, but not before he successfully took out the enemy with his Browning rifle. In drawing the enemy action away from his fellow soldiers, they were able to escape to continue the fight and establish the first bridgehead over the Merderet River. For his actions, DeGlopper received the Medal of Honor posthumously.