WORLD WAR II
NEVER THE SAME
Wally Skiscim, second serviceman from the right, enjoyed dancing at the USO parties. He returned to Vero Beach after the war to marry Mary Anne Maher.
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COURTESY OF SKISCIM PHOTOS, ARCHIVE CENTER, IRC MAIN LIBRARY
Wartime had a lasting effect on
Vero Beach and its people
World War II brought permanent changes to
the homefront, even to towns as small as
Vero Beach in the early 1940s.
The Navy opened an air station at the city
airport in 1942 to train pilots to fly dive bombers and
night fighters made possible by new radar technology,
something Germany’s Luftwaffe was already doing.
By the time the airbase closed in 1946, a total of 2,700
officers and enlisted men and 300 WAVES and women
City of Vero Beach 1919-2019 VeroBeach100.org
Marines had spent time in Vero Beach, nearly equaling
the civilian population of 3,000. Many eventually
made the town their permanent home.
At the dawn of the war, the airport was the ninth
largest paved facility in the country, author and engineer
George Gross wrote in his 2002 book, U.S. Naval
Station at Vero Beach during World War II. Originally, it
was a refueling stop for Eastern Airlines.
Bump Holman, who operated Sun Aviation at the >>
BY JANIE GOULD
/VeroBeach100.org