 On 15 August 1943, the regiment participated in Operation Cottage, the retaking of the last Japanese-held island in the Aleutians.The regiment, augmented by the 1st Battalion, 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment, and with the 13th Canadian Infantry Brigade Group on its right, made its first of many assault landings at Long Beach on Kiska Island.When the regiment landed, its commander, Colonel Curtis D. O'Sullivan, ordered the regiment's band to play.