Carrington Company "F" 164 Infantry
By Wallace Emerson
It was during the fall and winter of 1921‑22. Dr. J. Ross McKenzie, pioneer physician‑surgeon in Carrington at that time, had read a personal account of the proposed National Guard reorganization within the state. McKenzie was a Major in the E.F. and believed that a National Guard Unit should be stationed in Carrington. He swung into action with a petition of request which was signed by over 100 young men of the community.
Federal Recognition Ceremonies for Carrington Company "F" 164 Infantry was held in the high school gymnasium. (A wooden structure that has since been demolished and was located on the present grade school block - it was often referred to as the sheep shed.) The date was January 29, 1923.
The unit's first officers were all veterans and residents of the community: Captain George Beier, 1st Lt. Monroe Shenkel, and end. Lt. Frank L. Putnam.
That's how it all started over 60 years ago but it's in times of war that the Unit is probably best remembered.
Carrington's Company "F" 164th Infantry was inducted into Federal Service on February 10, 1941 when the winds of war were drifting toward the United States. Captain Harry Tenborg was in command of the unit and he, along with Sgt. Porter B. Hall, was the only remaining charter members of the original company. I remember that the Carrington schools were dismissed so that they might attend the departure of the guard unit for what was to be a 30 to 60 day encampment at Camp Claborne, Louisiana.
The unit trained at Camp Claborne and participated in the Louisiana maneuvers and then they were selected from the 34th division by the Department of the Army to participate in the Carolina Mechanized Maneuvers as an infantry company assigned to a General Headquarters Experimental Tank Destroyer Group and the 30‑60 day encampment that had launched the whole thing had now stretched into a month of December, 1941.
The unit arrived back at Camp Claborne, following the Carolina Maneuvers, dog‑tired and listless. It was December 6, 1941 and the next day the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The company was immediately ordered to Fort Ord, California for embarkation to the Philippine Islands, where the United States had lost control of the sea and air, however, the mission was cancelled and the company spent the next three months guarding railroad bridges and trestles in Montana and Idaho. Many guardsmen avowed that this was plush duty . . . guarding bridges. The work wasn't taxing and the chow was tremendous . . . and it was quiet and peaceful.
But it didn't last long. Company "F" embarked for Australia on March 8, 1942 and arrived at Melbourne on April 6th. From Australia the unit was transferred by a small ship to New Caledonia where it set up defenses and continued its training.
The "real show" began on October 8, 1942 for Company "F". It was ordered to the island of Guadalcanal (which most of them hadn't heard of prior to World War II). They were to reinforce the First Marine Division in its conquest of the island. It was on Guadalcanal that the unit began to learn what war was all about. They were plunged into jungle warfare and participated in the battles of Lunga River, Koh Point, and Point Crus. The men of the unit were becoming as thin as sparrows and it wasn't Havery Nicholson's cooking that was causing the emaciation. It was the hot, wet stinking climate and a thing called battle fatigue.
The small unit lost some of its men on Guadalcanal . . . Clarence D. Bonderud, James L. McCreary, Clyde G. Morgan, Arthur J. Hanat and Miles O. Shelley on Bougainville and Eugene A. DeBolt at Cebu City, Philippine Islands.
Before the War was over the unit had campaigns in Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Cebu, Leyte, and Arm Occupational Forces in Japan to their credit.
The company returned to the United States and was demobilized early in 1946 and was reorganized at Carrington on June 30, 1947 under the command of Alvin A. Paulson. It was again called into Federal service on January 16, 1951 for the Korean Conflict. It shipped to Camp Rucker, Alabama as part of the 164th Regiment where it became a training company. Personnel of the 164th were utilized as replacements and of the 66 men assigned to Company "F" at the time 29 were sent to Korea, 6 to Japan, and 1 to Europe. Losses during the Korean Conflict were Allen Hewitt, Robert O. Haugen, and James Clark.
It was converted and reorganized and redesignated Company "A", 142nd Engineer Battalion under the command of 1st Lt. Ernest Steinman on April 16, 1955.
The National Guard works on "helping hand" projects, such as assisting City, County, and park systems, to name a few. It is a strong helping hand they have when it comes to heavy-duty equipment and manpower.
Source: A History of Foster County 1983 Page 254