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N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – North Dakota’s famed 164th Infantry Regiment is hosting the North Dakota World War II Victory Program and USO-style dance to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the end of the war. The October 10th event in Bismarck is being held in conjunction with the 70th Annual reunion of the 164th Infantry Association.

All who served in World War II, including Merchant Marines, Cadet Nurses, & “Rosies” are invited to attend, and are asked to RSVP to receive special seating and identification.   That’s as easy as phoning the Victory Hotline, 701-333-2064 and leaving call back information.

The event will be held in the World War Memorial Building, 215 6th St, Bismarck, which was the National Guard Armory and home to Company A of the 164th Infantry in 1941 when the unit was mobilized.

The 188th Army National Guard Band, Fargo, will perform for the program and dance.  The lineage of the band is directly connected to the 164th Infantry Band that mobilized from Lisbon for WWII and was later relocated to Fargo.

The Program will start at 2 pm on Saturday, October 10th.  The Victory Dance will be held from 3-5 pm.

The entire event is free and open to the public.  “It’s an opportunity to meet and thank the champions living among us,” said Victory Celebration organizer Shirley Olgeirson, Bismarck.  “They did this one little thing 70 years ago — they saved the world!”

Governor Dalrymple proclaimed the time period between September 2 (V-J Day) and Veterans Day to be a time to celebrate and honor North Dakota’s heroes of World War II.    In addition to the Victory Celebration and Dance, all WWII veterans are invited to register for the Victory Roll Call to receive a letter of appreciation from the governor  

The 164th Infantry

The bond of war is strong among those who served in the 164th Infantry Regiment.  “A seventieth reunion rivals that of the more famous national reunions of Doolittle’s Raiders and the Band of Brothers groups that held their final reunions about a year ago”, said Vern Fetch, current president of the 164th Infantry Association that hosts the annual reunion.

The entire state was affected by the mobilization of the 164th Infantry.  The regiment had about 1700 men located in 17 communities throughout North Dakota.  Those locations were Fargo, Devils Lake, Harvey, Lisbon, Bottineau, Bismarck, Cavalier, Grafton, Rugby, Cando, Williston, Carrington, Valley City, Jamestown, Edgeley, Dickinson, and Wahpeton.

In October, 1942, the regiment made history as the first US Army unit to offensively engage the enemy, in either theater, when they reinforced the Marines at Guadalcanal.  The newly issued M1 Garand rifles outshined the bolt action Springfield 1903 used by the Marines as waves of Japanese assaulted the perimeter of strategic airfield on the island.  The Regiment earned the Navy Presidential Unit Citation for that Battle. 

At least four veterans of the battle of Guadalcanal are expected to attend.  Louis J. Hanson from Jamestown, now Bismarck, served in Company E.   Doug Burtell, Bowman, was assigned to the regiment’s intelligence and reconnaissance platoon.   Gerald “Sandy” Sanderson, Rugby, was a medic in the Bottineau unit.   Col (ret) Richard Stevens, Louisville, KY, was one of twelve troops transferred from the Kansas National Guard to fill vacancies in Company M, 164th, just before the regiment boarded the USS Coolidge in San Francisco for the trip overseas. 

The 164th then participated in campaigns Bougainville in 1944, and Leyte, Cebu, Bohol, Mindanao in 1945, earning 4 bronze ‘battle’ stars on the Asiatic Pacific Campaign ribbon and serving over 600 days in contact with the enemy.  The Regiment was slated to spearhead the invasion of Japan as part of Operation Olympic when the war ended.

An estimated 2000 replacements from every state in the nation transferred in an out of the Regiment during the 3 years of battle.  Many of them came to reunions over the years, but there are more who were unaware of the existence of the continuing activities of the 164th. 

Last year, Casper Inzerillo, New Hyde Park, NY, saw a notice in the VFW magazine.  Just a few days ago, Sandi Lowe who works at Disneyland struck up a conversation with Nick Pisciotta, Perris, CA, because he was wearing a WWII patch.  Both were surprised to find that he was a member of her dad’s old unit, the 164th Infantry.

The first reunion was held in Fargo by a few guys from Company B who got together shortly after returning from the South Pacific in late 1945.