It may be more than 65 years since Japan surrendered to end World War II, but Odvar Holm remembers the date ---- Aug. 14, 1945 ---- as if it were yesterday.

Holm, who was only 17 at the time, said Friday he recalled how his mother let him stay out until 3 a.m. to celebrate with his friends.

"We were kissing all the girls. People were honking their horns and singing. Rationing was (finally over). V-J (Victory in Japan) Day was the biggest party this country had ever seen," he said.

To mark the 65th anniversary of the end of World War II, Holm and more than 100 fellow residents at the Carlsbad by the Sea retirement community in Carlsbad threw a shindig Friday.

"This is the first year we've done this," said Holm of the retirement community's World War II Commemorative Dinner. "My big benefit (from the event) is that we all got to know each other better by sharing these memories."

Holm, who has been a resident at Carlsbad by the Sea for more than 12 years, said that once the idea to celebrate V-J Day took hold, "it just snowballed."

The dinner menu included beef bouillon, the favorite Army staple creamed chipped beef on toast, as well as macaroni and cheese, baked beans with Spam, peas and pearl onions and of course, good old-fashioned apple pie for dessert.

Resident Jack Cummings supplied a recording of an Armed Forces Radio broadcast made at the end of the war, which residents listened to at the beginning of the evening. Holm also had copies of newspaper clippings from the war and photographs of those residents who served in uniform laminated and posted throughout the residence.

Isabelle Mason, a spry 99-year-old resident wearing her crisp navy blue Army Nurse Corps uniform Friday evening, smiled when friends pointed out a photo of her.

"That's a uniform from World War I I'm wearing (in that picture)," she noted.

She explained that at the beginning of the war, they hadn't yet made ones for World War II, so the Army nurses were issued uniforms from the previous war.

Carlin Matson, 98, received a deferment from active duty until he completed dental school. He said Friday that he was stationed on Guam when he heard the news the Japanese had surrendered and the war was over.

"We stole a jeep and a bunch of guys drove to the end of the island," Matson recalled with a smile. "We wanted to make damned sure were going to go home ---- though there were some guys who wanted to go to Japan."

After dinner, many of the residents stayed to dance to live music from the 1940s.

"I truly believe they are the 'Greatest Generation,'" said Cathy Miller, Director of Recreation and Wellness at Carlsbad by the Sea, referring to a moniker coined by journalist Tom Brokaw.

The active retirement community is home to 220 residents and is made of 148 residential units, including six oceanfront units, 13 assisted living units and a 33-bed skilled nursing center. Originally built in 1927 as the Carlsbad Mineral Springs Resort Hotel, the building underwent a $60 million dollar redevelopment and re-opened in July 1998.