Grunt holding large article from German plane (6)
I believe the answer is:
glider
'plane' is the definition.
(glider is a type of plane)
'grunt holding large article from german' is the wordplay.
'grunt' becomes 'gi' (both can mean a US soldier).
'holding' is an insertion indicator.
'large' becomes 'L' (eg in clothes sizes).
'article from german' becomes 'der' ('the' - the definite article - in German).
'gi' enclosing 'l' is 'gli'.
'gli'+'der'='GLIDER'
(Other definitions for glider that I've seen before include "Powerless traveller" , "quiet flier" , "Aircraft designed to fly without an engine" , "Engineless plane" , "taking flight?" .)