WORLD WAR II
rine Corps pilot out of Pensacola when he was sent to Vero Beach
to train in dive bombers.
FRIENDLY FOLKS
In a radio interview, Curzon talked about the friendliness of
local folks, who often let him hunt on their property and even in
their citrus groves, as long as he didn’t shoot into the trees. Pellets
would cause the fruit to rot.
“I never worried about being lost or being without, knowing
that if I asked for something it would either be given to me or I
would be helped or shown a way to get it,” he said.
Curzon and his buddies liked to go shrimping at the old Winter
Beach Bridge.
“When the shrimp got running, you could sit there and fill one
of those big coolers with shrimp, and I mean good-size shrimp, in
a couple of hours,” he said.
Cooks in the mess hall would boil the shrimp and “we’d sit
there, eat shrimp, drink beer and have a good time,” he said.
He also enjoyed airboat fishing for big-mouthed bass in
swamps that started just a couple of miles west of town and
extended to State Road 60’s 20-Mile Bend.
Curzon’s parents were so taken with the area after visiting one
winter that when they returned home to Illinois to face a blizzard,
they came back and bought a grove. Curzon settled in Vero Beach
after leaving the Marine Corps in 1958. He worked as a pilot for
the Dodgers, had a business with Mickey Mantle and served as
the county’s property appraiser.
AROUND THE TOWN
Sailors strolled the streets of Vero Beach during the war years
and danced with local girls at USO dances in the community
46
center. Musicians at the airbase formed a dance band to provide
live entertainment in town. The Navy sponsored beach parties
and handed out life rafts for Navy personnel to practice on in case
they ever had to do an emergency landing.
The biggest party undoubtedly was the celebration when the
war ended. Hilda Harbourt viewed the throngs of people who
came from the air station to celebrate. She had a front row seat
from her desk at the Western Union telegraph office on 14th
Avenue, but didn’t join the festivities.
“I was working!” she said.
During the war years, townspeople also caught sight occasionally
of military personnel from neighboring bases. The Navy’s
Underwater Demolition Teams, predecessors of the Navy SEALs, >>
WA N T M O R E ?
We have reserved copies of Vero at 100 for single-copy purchase for $5 per copy plus
shipping or for bulk purchase for school and community groups. To order single copies,
visit IndianRiverStore.com. To order multiple copies, email enns@indianrivermag.com
City of Vero Beach 1919-2019 VeroBeach100.org
JIM WILSON COLLECTION
This 1944 photo shows the Naval Air station at Vero Beach, site of
the current Vero Beach Municipal Airport.
/www.indianriverstore.com
/IndianRiverStore.com
/VeroBeach100.org
link