326^th Glider Infantry Regiment

The 326th Glider Infantry Regiment was one of the principal glider infantry regiments of the 13th Airborne Division, but it did not enter combat in World War II. It began as the 326th Infantry Regiment, organized at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, on March 25, 1942, and assigned to the 82nd Division. When the Army converted the 82nd into an airborne formation, the regiment was redesignated the 326th Glider Infantry Regiment on August 6, 1942.

After early airborne training, the regiment was relieved from the 82nd Airborne Division on February 4, 1943 and assigned to Airborne Command. It trained at Alliance Army Airbase and Fort Bragg before assignment to the 13th Airborne Division on December 8, 1943. In January 1944 it moved to Camp Mackall, where the division continued airborne training and preparation for possible overseas employment.

The 326th staged at Camp Shanks in January 1945, departed New York on January 26, and landed in France on February 6. The same month, the division was held as an airborne reserve while Allied forces prepared for the crossing of the Rhine. The 326th absorbed assets from the disbanded 88th Glider Infantry on March 1, 1945, further consolidating the division's glider infantry strength.

The regiment's expected combat opportunity was Operation Varsity on March 24, 1945, but the 13th Airborne Division was not employed because of insufficient airlift. The division remained in France and never entered combat. The 326th therefore represents a fully trained and deployed airborne regiment whose combat role was overtaken by operational limits rather than by lack of readiness. It received Central Europe campaign credit, returned to the United States in August 1945, and was inactivated at Fort Bragg on February 25, 1946.