Original Items: One-of-a-kind Set. Technician William T. Becker ASN 34213583 from Burke County, North Carolina enlisted in the Army on March 3rd, 1942. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, Headquarters Company, 325th Glider Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division and completed a glider assault into Normandy France on D-Day +1 (June 7th, 1944). He also completed a glider assault during the Market Garden Campaign. He is listed on on the 325th roster under the Anti-Tank Company, 325th Glider Infantry Regiment. A print out of the roster is included in this grouping. According to his honorable discharge (copy included) he earned 6 campaign stars for the following campaigns; SICILY, NAPLES FOGGIA, NORMANDY, RHINELAND, ARDENNES,  CENTRAL EUROPE and and Arrowhead for Normandy. Also included are the following items:

- Class A Jacket offered in very good condition in size 40S. Named on the interior to BECKER, HQ CO. 2nd BN. B-3583 (laundry number). Festures sterling GLIDER INFANTRY REGIMENT PIN backed with a British Made oval of blue felt with a white embroidered surround. 82nd Airborne patch on left shoulder, Allied Airborne patch on right shoulder. Sterling silver pinback 325th Glider Regiment "Let's Go" Distinctive Unit Insignia pins on each lapel. American Campaign Medal Ribbon, European-African-Middle East Campaign Ribbon with One Invasion Arrowhead and 4 campaign stars, WWII Victory Medal ribbon, Presidential Unit Citation. Sterling Silver Combat Infantryman Badge (CBI). The "Belgian Fourragère 1940"- composed of one round smooth cord, partially braided, and of TWO other cords, of which one is terminated by a knot and a brass ferret - it is made of wool and cotton for NCOs and EM, and of silk for Officers - all threads are tinted in colors resembling the ribbon of the Belgian Croix de Guerre 1940 (i.e. basic red, dotted with green threads) - the Fourragère encircles the LEFT shoulder and passes under the armpit, and is fixed by 2 tiny loops onto the button of the shoulder loop. "Order of the Orange" shoulder cord awarded by the Dutch government for surviving Operation Market Garden. Two overseas combat service bars (on left sleeve cuff) meaning 12+ months of overseas service.

Approximate Measurements"
Collar to shoulder: 10”
Shoulder to sleeve: 23.5”
Shoulder to shoulder: 18”
Chest width: 19”
Waist width: 21”
Hip width: 26”
Front length: 31”


- Copy of 325th Glider Infantry Regiment roster.

- Copy of Honorable Discharge, morning reports and more.

- Overseas Garrison cap with fantastic cross stitched glider patch.

- Army issue shirt and tie

- Overseas Garrison cap with fantastic cross stitched glider patch.

- Army issue shirt and tie.

Overall a fantastic group from a named D-Day invasion glider infantryman who fought through to the end of the war with Germany.


History of the 325th Glider Infantry Regiment in WWII.

On the morning of 23 December 1944, elements of the U.S. 3rd Armored Division were retreating from the Germans in the Ardennes Forest near Fraiture, Belgium. A sergeant in a tank destroyer spotted an American digging a foxhole.The GI, a Private First Class of Co. F, 325th Glider Infantry Regiment, looked up and asked, "Are you looking for a safe place?

"Yeah," answered the tanker.

"Well buddy," he drawled, "just pull your tank in behind me... I'm the 82nd Airborne and this is as far as the bastards are going!"

(23 December 1944....near Fraiture Belgium)

Located at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana,  the Regiment was again to be part of the 82nd Division.  Late in July 1943, the heavy equipment arrived that would turn the regiment into the 325th Motorized Infantry Regiment.

This suddenly changed when the Chief of Staff, General Marshall had decided that the 82nd Division would be an excellent division to use as a base for his proposed Airborne force.  General Omar Bradley, because of his excellent work in training the 82nd Division, was to be transferred to the 28th Division which was having a great deal of trouble in meeting its training objectives. General Matthew Ridgway, the 82nd Assistant Division Commander, would become its Commander.

The 325th Glider Infantry Regiment was formed and given the task of arriving into battle by glider.  Parachutes could, and often did, wind up scattered for miles on a drop zone.  The same held true for equipment and supplies.  The glider was the answer to all these problems.  As long as a glider stayed in one piece,  the items inside it would too.  This meant no more searching through the swamp looking for the missing barrel to a Howitzer.  Jeeps could also fit into a glider.  Best of all, troops could be put into a glider and land as a coherent fighting unit.

Gliderborne assaults, however, were not without their risks.  Gliders and their tow planes were slow, fat targets.  They had no armor to protect the men inside.  Landing in a glider was also an adventure and little more than a controlled crash.  Even if the pilot had the time and altitude to select a good spot to land, conditions on the ground of which he might be totally ignorant could wreck a landing.  Ditches, wire, fences, tree stumps or a host of other possible ailments could flip, twist, or gut an unfortunate glider.

During the time of its introduction to the gliders, the Regiment lost its Commander.  Colonel Easley was promoted to Brigadier General and went to the 96th Division.  He was replaced by Colonel Harry Lewis who would guide the Regiment through its glider training and on to combat overseas.

The 325th Glider Infantry Regiment was formed and given the task of arriving into battle by glider.  Parachutes could, and often did, wind up scattered for miles on a drop zone.  The same held true for equipment and supplies.  The glider was the answer to all these problems.  As long as a glider stayed in one piece,  the items inside it would too.  This meant no more searching through the swamp looking for the missing barrel to a Howitzer.  Jeeps could also fit into a glider.  Best of all, troops could be put into a glider and land as a coherent fighting unit.

Salerno
The Regiment arrived to its first battle, not by air, but by sea.  Boarding beach landing craft, the Regiment was sent to Salerno from the island of Sicily to reinforce American units already there.  On September 15th at about 2300, they landed at Paestum, some eighteen miles south of Salerno where they awaited orders.  Daybreak on the 16th brought orders.  The 2nd Battalion was to re-board the landing craft and farther north to the town of Maiori.  Here they were to be attached to Colonel William O. Darby's Ranger Task Force and relieve Ranger units currently holding positions on 4000 foot Mount St. Angelo di Cava.  The Battalion was welcomed the next morning by a German artillery barrage.  The Germans probed the Battalion lines.  Despite numerous attempts to throw the Glidermen off the mountain, the Americans held their ground.  It was here that the Regiment received its first casualties of the war.

Normandy - D-Day
On 7 June 1944, D-Day plus one, the Regiment landed by glider in Normandy and participated in the invasion of France. On 9 June, Private First Class Charles N. Deglopper single-handedly defended his platoon's position and subsequently was awarded the Medal of Honor for this action. As soldiers of the 325th Glider Infantry Regiment swooped down to Normandy, other elements of the 82nd Airborne Division were in the process of capturing the town of St. Mere Eglise on an airborne operation behind enemy lines. It was for the success of their effort that the soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Division were awarded the red and green braided French Fourregerre.

The next glider assault for the 325th was during Operation Market Garden, the largest airborne operation ever conducted.  During this battle, the 325th landed among German positions that had surrounded other elements of the 82nd Airborne Division. This glider attack turned the tide of battle and earned the Regiment the Distinguished Unit Citation.

The Ardennes - Battle of the Bulge
Suddenly, on December 16, 1944, the Germans launched a surprise offensive through the Ardennes Forest which caught the Allies 325th GIR Company K completely by surprise. Two days later the 82nd joined the fighting and blunted General Von Runstedt's northern penetration in the American lines.

Originally, the 82nd Airborne was to defend Bastogne but the 101st Airborne drew that assignment and the 82nd was sent north to Werbomont. The 325th dug in around the crossroads at Baraque de Fraiture and held. During the intense fight in December 1944 The 325th decimated two German Divisions.

The fight continued into January 1945. Absorbing heavy casualties the 325th continued on to Thier-du-Mont.  Later in 1945, the 325th's action in Germany ended with the Regiment driving deep into the heart of Germany.  The war offically ended in Europe on 5 May 1945 and the 82nd Airborne Division was called upon to serve as the occupation force in the American Sector of Berlin.  Here the 82nd Airborne Division earned the name, "America's Guard of Honor." The regiment assisted in Berlin occupational duties until it returned to the United States in 1946 and was deactivated on December 15, 1947.