Original Items: Only One Lot Available. This is a lovely WWII era grouping featuring a set of Glider Wings, Paratrooper Wings and two enameled Distinctive Unit Insignias. All items are in wonderful condition and display very well together! This lot is perfect for the young collector looking for a place to start.

The Items In This Lot:

- Glider Badge on Crossed Rifles: The Glider Badge was a special skills badge of the United States Army. According to the U.S. Army Institute of Heraldry, the badge was awarded to personnel who had "been assigned or attached to a glider or airborne unit or to the Airborne Department of the Infantry School; satisfactorily completed a course of instruction, or participated in at least one combat glider mission into enemy-held territory.

The badge was authorized on 2 June 1944 and discontinued on 3 May 1961 but may continue to be worn on U.S. Army uniforms.

Following the close of the Second World War, the Glider Badge was authorized to any service member who had completed glider unit training at the Airborne School.

In the post-World War II years, the US Army converted its remaining glider units to parachute. For example, the 325th Glider Infantry Regiment of the 82d Airborne Division was reorganized and redesignated on 15 December 1947 as the 325th Infantry Regiment (no longer glider infantry), and then reorganized and redesignated again on 15 December 1948 as the 325th Airborne Infantry. Likewise, the 319th Glider Field Artillery Battalion,[5] also part of the 82d Airborne Division, was reorganized and redesignated on 15 December 1947 as the 319th Field Artillery Battalion, and then reorganized and redesignated on 15 December 1948 as the 319th Airborne Field Artillery Battalion. Although glider units had ceased to exist, the badge was not formally rescinded until 3 May 1961; however, it remained authorized for wear by those who earned it.

Glider training was included in the United States Army's basic Airborne course until 1949, which at that time lasted five weeks. The first week of the course covered air transportability training, which included glider training. During late summer of that year, a glider crashed, killing many of those on board, and glider training came to an end.

- Parachutist Badge With Broken Pin Arm: To be eligible for award of the Parachutist Badge, an individual must have completed the Basic Airborne Course of the Airborne School of the United States Army Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia.

To graduate, a student must complete the three-phase course consisting of a ground phase, a tower phase, and a jump phase. By the end of the course, a student will have completed five jumps in varying jump configurations, from a "no load" jump all the way to a full combat load jump at night.

- Airborne (Glider) Blue Enamel Insignia: A circular Airborne (Glider) Insignia, similar to the Airborne (Parachute) Insignia, was worn on the garrison cap of active glider units until the Army combined the parachute and glider insignias into one Airborne Insignia worn by all airborne and glider-born units. Glider-borne soldiers wore a background trimming (a.k.a. a cloth oval) behind their Glider Badge to signify assignment to glider units.

The color pattern of the background trimming varied depending upon the unit.

In 1944 the separate parachute and glider insignias with infantry blue or artillery red background were merged into a combined parachute and glider on a blue base with a red circle. (Note: During World War II the term "Airborne" included parachute, glider, and air-landing units. With the elimination of glider and air-landing units from the force structure in the post-war years, Airborne became synonymous with parachute units only.)

- 17th Airborne Division Sweetheart Pin With Chained Jump Wings: Sweetheart jewelry was a symbol of wartime connection and separation. It reminded the wearer of a relative or sweetheart serving in the military. It also let other people know of this connection. Although often called sweetheart jewelry, these tokens were given to a range of loved ones and family.

The 17th Airborne Division, "The Golden Talons", was an airborne infantry division of the United States Army during World War II, commanded by Major General William M. Miley.

It was officially activated as an airborne division in April 1943 but was not immediately sent to a combat theater, remaining in the United States to complete its training. During this training process, the division took part in several training exercises, including the Knollwood Maneuver, in which it played a vital part in ensuring that the airborne division remained as a military formation in the U.S. Army. As such it did not take part in the first two large-scale airborne operations conducted by the Allies, Operation Husky and Operation Neptune, transferring to Britain only after the end of Operation Overlord.

When the division arrived in Britain, it came under the command of Maj. Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway's XVIII Airborne Corps, a part of Maj. Gen. Lewis H. Brereton's First Allied Airborne Army, but was not chosen to participate in Operation Market Garden, the airborne landings in the Netherlands, as Allied planners believed it had arrived too late and could not be "trained up" in time for the operation. However, after the end of Operation Market Garden the division was shipped to France and then Belgium to fight in the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge. The 17th gained its first Medal of Honor during its time fighting in the Ardennes, and was then withdrawn to Luxembourg to prepare for an assault over the River Rhine. In March 1945, the division participated in its first, and only, airborne operation, dropping alongside the British 6th Airborne Division as a part of Operation Varsity, where it gained three more Medals of Honor. The division then advanced through Northern Germany until the end of World War II, when it briefly undertook occupation duties in Germany before shipping back to the United States. There, it was officially inactivated in September 1945, although it was briefly reactivated as a training division between 1948 and 1949.

A lovely grouping ready for further research and display.