327 Glider Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division

327 Glider Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. “Honor and Country”. Constituted in 1917, the 321th Infantry Regiment served as part of the 82nd Division during World War I, earning campaign credits for hard-fought actions in France. The 321th returned to active duty soon after America's entry into World War II. On 15 August 1942, the unit was reorganized and redesignated as the 327th Glider Infantry Regiment (GIR). The Regiment was then transferred to the newly organized 101st Airborne Division. After participating in numerous training exercises in the United States designed to develop the techniques of glider operations, the 327th GIR sailed for the United Kingdom, where it honed combat skills and attached the 1st Battalion, 401 GIR. During a series of realistic exercises conducted in the British Isles, the 327th GIR practiced the tasks critical to the success of glider borne assaults into enemy territory. Just prior to D-Day, it received orders specifically related to the Allied assault upon the Cotentin Peninsula. , , The D-Day plan called for the 327th GIR to conduct amphibious landings at Utah Beach and move inland to link up with the airborne regiments that had parachuted into France early on D-Day morning. The initial elements of the Regiment began landing in France on 6 June; all elements were ashore by the evening of D +1 and linked up near Ste. Marie-du-Mont. On D+2 the attached 1st Battalion, 401st GIR, saw action near St. Come-du-Mont and at the La Barquette Locks. , , The 327th GIR participated in the major effort to seize the stoutly defended city of Carentan before dawn on 9 June 1944. The Regiment, in coordination with elements of the 501st PIR, crossed the Douve River and maneuvered to the east of the key objective city. Thus began a period of sustained infantry action that would continue until 17 June, during which many soldiers earned decorations for bravery. The 327th GIR continued to operate as a major combat infantry element of the 101st Airborne Division until mid-July, when the Regiment received orders to withdraw from combat and return to England to prepare for future assault operations in Europe. The contribution of the 327th PIR to Allied success in Normandy was later recognized by the award of the French Croix de Guerre with Palm. , , The "Honor and Country" Regiment would later participate in desperate fighting in Holland as part of Operation Market Garden and in Belgium, where it helped thwart Nazi advances near Bastogne. For its courageous conduct there, the Regiment received the Presidential Unit Citation and the Belgian Croix de Guerre with Palm. The 327th PIR made significant contributions to the eventual defeat of Nazi Germany, and after the conclusion of hostilities in May of 1945, the Regiment helped to secure peace in Europe until returning to the United States for inactivation in November 1945. , Remembering the men who provided ordnance support while attached to the 8th Air Force. Given to mark the 65th anniversary of D-Day, 6 June 1944, by the reunion association of the 1905/1906 Aircraft Ordnance Ammunition Company.