189^th Glider Infantry Regiment

The 189th Glider Infantry Regiment did not enter combat in World War II. It was one of the short-lived glider infantry regiments associated with the early organization of the 13th Airborne Division, but its service ended before the division reached the European theater.

The regiment was activated at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, on August 13, 1943, and assigned to the 13th Airborne Division. At that point the Army was still refining the structure of its airborne divisions and the balance between parachute infantry, glider infantry, artillery, and supporting arms. The 189th existed within that reorganization period rather than as a regiment that proceeded through a full training, deployment, and combat cycle.

Its active life was brief. The regiment was disbanded at Fort Bragg on December 8, 1943, less than four months after activation. It therefore did not accompany the 13th Airborne Division through its later training at Camp Mackall, its staging at Camp Shanks, or its movement to France in early 1945. The division itself arrived in France on February 6, 1945 but never entered combat; it was not used in Operation Varsity because of insufficient airlift. The 189th was not part of that overseas phase.

The regiment was a non-combat, predeployment organizational unit. Its significance lies in the administrative evolution of U.S. airborne forces rather than in battlefield operations. It had no overseas movement, no campaign credit, and no tactical record to merge with the later history of the 13th Airborne Division. Its short life also helps explain why later 13th Airborne summaries center on the 326th Glider Infantry, 515th Parachute Infantry, and the attached or assigned 517th Parachute Infantry rather than on the early 189th organization.