326th Airborne Glider Infantry Regiment grouping

[Matt-M]

Recent find. PH, glider wings, insignia and some other effects to come next week hopefully. I am however, wondering how he earned 4 battle stars on his ETO medal when, as far as I know, the 326th saw no combat, and, why he has a 29th ID patch as well. Any thoughts? Bronze Star is not the conversion style engraving, and, how would he be WIA ? Thoughts welcomed and appreciated. Leather 326th is incised and silkscreened, thin leather much like the Italian made patches.

[huntssurplus]

Looks like a collection of parts. Some of those items may be his, but there also looks to be a post ww2 meritous unit citation in there. You may be able to find some information on the bronze star recipient, but I’m guessing this is more so just a collection of random pieces.

Hunt


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[Matt-M]

Considering it was all mounted on a board and direct from the estate, it's not a collection of parts, and clearly, if you examine what's shown, the items all make sense to any Airborne novice, except for the 29th patch, which says to me he may have been in the 29th before joining the Airborne, or, possibly was attached to the 29th while in Europe which is how he ended up seeing combat.

[Kadet]

I can try to help you out. David J. Fisher served as a mortar crewman and rifleman in Companies A and K of the 115th IR 29th ID. He apparently arrived in ETO as a replacement in July 1944 and was assigned to the 29th. He was severely wounded in August 1944, but eventually rejoined his regiment. His connection to the 326th is unknown. He may have been assigned to the 326th either before or after his service in the 29th. I suspect the first scenario owing to his early enlistment date (1942) but relatively late arrival in the ETO. Additionally, his name does not appear on the end of war roster for the 326th. Not everyone was suitable for service in the airborne formations. If that was found to be the case, they would have been sent overseas as infantry replacements. You would need to see his record to confirm the 326th portion of the info.

[Kadet]

He also may have been pulled from a stateside unit and sent overseas as a replacement because of his MOS or skill set. The 29th ID took enormous casualties on D-Day and would have desperately needed skilled personnel to fill the gaps. Also, I suspect that the BSM was awarded for his CIB. It just has later (IMO) 60s or even 70s official engraving. The engraving style for these all depends on when the vet got around to requesting the award.

[Matt-M]

Very helpful, Kadet. Thank you very much. I agree, that the 1st scenario is most likely. The patches and glider wings certainly indicate that he completed training. Again, most appreciated.