About Stuff

Irwin L. Horowitz (Irv) was born in Cleveland, Ohio, December 5, 1916. He attended Glenville High School with fellow artist and best friend, Joe Shuster, who would later go on to co-create Superman with Jerry Siegel. In 1939 at Jerry Seigel’s wedding, Irv met one of the bridesmaids, Dorothy Palevsky, who he dated and married on September 7, 1941. Less than a year later Irv was inducted into the Army.

In February 1945, while Irv was stationed at Fort Bragg, he became a father. He received a furlough to hold his first-born son, Neil, before returning to camp.

Irv was a commercial artist who specialized in illustration and photo retouching, skills that would be taken advantage of during his service. Dorothy, a nurse, was also pressed into service and was able to accompany him to many of his regiment’s training locations.

The 326th Infantry Regiment, not yet a Glider Regiment, actually fought in France during World War I as part of the 82nd Division. The Army did not have a dedicated airborne division until 1942, when the 82nd Airborne became its first. The 325th and 326th Regiments became glider infantry units of the 82nd Airborne.

They prepared for combat at Camp Mackall, North Carolina, and were shipped to New York expecting to see action in, Operation Varsity, the airborne component of the Allied push to cross the Rhine. However, again due to a shortage, this time of transport aircraft, the regiment was kept stateside and didn’t see action in Europe. They were sent back to Camp Mackall and prepared for the invasion of Japan. But before they were called up, the Japanese surrendered. The unit was deactivated after the war in February 1946.