327^th Glider Infantry Regiment

The 327th Glider Infantry Regiment entered the 101st Airborne Division in 1942 when it was redesignated from infantry to glider infantry. In Normandy it did not share the parachute drop pattern of the division's jump regiments; its main combat entry came by sea, after which it relieved elements of the 501st and 506th at La Barquette and Le Port. For the Carentan operation the regiment became the main effort on the left. It crossed the Douve near Brevands on June 10, cut the eastern exits from Carentan, fought to the Vire-Taute Canal, and sent elements across a repaired footbridge toward the Bassin a Flot. On June 12, while the 506th came in from Hill 30, the 327th pushed rapidly into Carentan and helped secure the junction between the Utah and Omaha lodgments. It then moved southeast toward Montmartin-en-Graignes and linked with V Corps elements.

During Operation Market-Garden, the 327th arrived in the later glider lift and served as the division's principal glider infantry force along Hell's Highway. Its battalions protected the landing zone and were fed into the Veghel crisis on September 22. The regiment helped form the defensive arc around Veghel, including the northern and western approaches, while 501st and 506th elements fought to hold or reopen the road.

In December 1944 the regiment moved to Bastogne with the 101st Airborne Division. Its sector lay in the southeastern perimeter around Marvie, where it relieved engineers and met German armored-infantry attacks during the encirclement. On Christmas Day, German tanks and infantry penetrated through positions held by companies of the regiment before being destroyed by glider infantry, tank destroyers, artillery, and attached armor. In January the regiment remained in the Bastogne fighting as the line expanded toward Bourcy, then served on the Moder and in Germany.