Opening Credits:
The Indian River Historical Society Presents: Vero Beach Historical Series :The War Years". A Nick Verola film featuring Ruth Stanbridge, Alma Carney and Bump Holman, Rody Johnson, Wally Skicism and Stan Tippin, Charles Macconnell, and Tony Young .
Speaker 1:
On December 7 1941 Japan got first and declared war afterwards, costly to our Navy was the law of war vessels. But more costly to Japan was the effectiveness of its fall attack in immediately unifying America in its determination to fight and win the war thrust upon it, and to win the peace that will follow.
Ruth Stanbridge:
When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the whole world erupted. Our whole country was going to war, a World War.
Stan Tippin:
World War Two did unite this country. Everyone was was totally involved in supporting troops
Bump Holman:
When the war was starting. And we had a runway, you know, it brought a lot of activity here. And everybody figured, well, the Army's gonna move in. But all of a sudden the navy blue into town overnight.
Ruth Stanbridge:
Within a year after Pearl Harbor, the Navy had already come into Vero Beach and it was now that Vero Beach Naval Air Station.
Wally Skicism:
Well, when I came to vero, when I first saw it, I was ready to get on the train, and go back to work I came from, there were more people at the airbase than there were in the whole town.
Ruth Stanbridge:
United States was not used to being at war and so the planes that they had for the young man to train on, were very old planes are very new planes. And sometimes it didn't go so well.
Stan Tippin:
While I lived on storm road and navy planes were going over constantly. A number of times, I remember riding around at night with my father, there would be one of the planes would crash and the Navy would drop these flares on parachutes. And they would set the woods on fire so that they could look for the the crash airplanes. One Buccaneer SP 2A crashed just north of Star Grove, and I remember running through the woods and seeing the plane sitting there and the pilot was standing there and the plane was in one piece except the engine was laying off to the side because it threw the engine but he wasn't hurt. But there's a second crash near the grove, which is stuck with me a lot more and that was his helldiver lost power and did a beautiful belly landing. He hit a big pine stop that he couldn't see was there. The pilot and his gunner didn't get out of the airplane, they perished right there. Would have been a routine crash landing except for that big stump they hit. And it was such a sad tale. But that was really vivid in my mind.
Ruth Stanbridge:
There was all different types of planes out there and there were all different types of pilots that were being trained. And one of the most important part was the night fighters.
Alma Carney:
My husband to be was training here for three months. He did have a story that while strafing for submarines right off shore, the altimeter said he had like 1000 feet, but all of a sudden he hits the water and he had on his Mae West and inflated he also had a little blow up dingy type thing with wooden paddles, that because the planes couldn't see him he could see them and he got so frustrated he took these wooden paddles and paddled to shore. The plane went down very near what today is JC beach.
Stan Tippin:
Their main purpose at Vero Beach Naval Air Station was to train for dive bombing and they went out into Blue Cypress Lake and built these big wooden platforms. And they carried the small practice bombs with a shotgun shell affair in the nose, oh, and in the back was full of flour, something something white. And if the bomb hit the target, or should blow the white powder out the back of this little bomb and leave a big white spot on the on the target. There were, I guess, thousands of them at the bottom of Blue Cypress Lake like probably still thousands of them there.
Ruth Stanbridge:
Vero Beach had one of these training programs for photography, and it was very important to the war effort.
Wally Skicism:
Well, I was trained to be an aerial photographer here in Vero. In fact, I made a aerial map of Vero Beach after we go through flying our mission over Vero Beach. It was sent to Washington,
Ruth Stanbridge:
Aerial photography, being a new state of the art during World War Two. This had never been done before and it was such an advantage. And World War Two, the women did not get the credit that they deserve for the war effort. They were the ones behind the scenes, they were the ones who made things run smoothly as these men had to train to go off to fight the battles. There were no exceptions here in Vero either because we've had both the men and the women that worked at the Naval Air Station.
Stan Tippin:
The public didn't know a whole lot about what was going on. The government couldn't afford to tell everybody but Vero Beach played a major role in the war effort. And when it was all over, then you look back and say I didn't really realize what was going on up here.
Wally Skicism:
All our training was right here. Vero Beach has been a special place. I spent most of my Navy life right here in Vero.
Ruth Stanbridge:
As we look back over the war years, we realize how very important it was for small communities and small areas like Vero Beach, that train these young men and women that went off to war.
Speaker 1:
America goes to war. Men of the Army, Navy and Marines reinforced the battlefronts to save the homes and ideals of free men from AXIS domination.
Ruth Stanbridge:
While the Navy was training at the Vero Beach Naval Station, the Army and the Coast Guard was patrolling not only the river, but the beach area.
Stan Tippin:
Few people remember that in those days a US Army head guards posted at the bridge, you didn't have free access across to the beach. During the war had to have a pass to use the bridge.
Ruth Stanbridge:
The army was very concerned about our shoreline. To counteract any of the invasion forces that they were expecting, they started a spotter program to watch the shoreline and the horizon for u boats, for planes for any military that might invade the Florida beaches.
Charles Macconnell:
My Dad he would volunteer in a degree he would man the spotting towers that were erected along the coast. He had poor eyesight. So he convinced the army to induct me, and I would be his eyes. So the army would come and pick us up at night and take us over to the tower to beach. And we'd man that all night we would log in every everything we saw. Then daylight would come the Army would come in our truck and take me to school. We were being invaded by the Germans right here in Vero Beach. And we were the frontline. Although their invasion wasn't to come on land, but they invade us by sinking the ship and they actually captured German sub. And onboard that submarine they found bread from the local Bell bakeries in Florida. They found theater ticket stubs from the local theater in Florida, where they had come ashore. Even if you didn't know the war was that close to home, everybody had to sacrifice.
Ruth Stanbridge:
The U-boats proved to be very destructive. They attacked the merchant mariners. They attack any boats for ships that were in the Gulf Stream and they sank them and the local folks through the programs that were put on by the Coast Guard in the army, were able to go out and actually rescue the sailors and bring them to shore.
Rudy Johnson:
Hitler sent six U-boats from the Mediterranean to the east coast of the United States immediately after Pearl Harbor over a nine month period in 1942, U-boats sunk something like 400 ships in US waters. They were active off New York, off Cape Hatteras, off Cape Canaveral, and indeed, close by here in Vero. And the Coast Guard recruited all over the East Coast, people who had boats and they just sent them off shore. And my father was one of those, he began, I think, probably in February of 1942. Going off every night, he had a 33 foot fishing boat called the kitces. Adi Roach went with him most of the time, otherwise, he would drive through town on an afternoon and holler, anybody want to go off shore, and a couple of people would volunteer and they'd go, of course, they did not realize what they were going towards. Then one evening, May 5th 1942, they were offshore. And shortly after midnight, and they saw flares, rising off the beach, they headed in that direction. Within an hour, they came on a lifeboat. That was packed with 22 survivors. That night, they were attacked by U-boat 333. commanded by Peter Kramer. He had another experience where in July of 1942, north of here off of Banana River Naval Air Station, they were in a boat and ran into three German U-boats sitting side by side on a roach. As the story goes said, I'm not going to be captured and go back to Germany, I'm jumping overboard, where my dad said, No, I think you'd better stay with the boat. And of course, all they could do is turn the boat and head for the beach. And, of course, the U-boats were not interested in having a run in with with small fishing boat. So they disappeared in the darkness. But it was an experience.
From writing the book. I discovered that my father was a hero, he didn't think he was a hero, none of those people did. I mean, it was just the natural thing to do. They were doing what they could to help the war effort, Until I wrote this book and people started reading this, my God, we didn't realize that they did not know. Even the people of that generation and certainly the people of later generations did not know that there was a war going on, a Naval War right off this coast.
Ruth Stanbridge:
As we look out over the ocean, it's hard to believe that just a few decades ago, they were Nazi U-boats prowling the Gulf Stream right off our shores. The war was won and the Allies had defeated the Nazis and Japan. But we did not forget. Our community banded together to create a memorial island to honor those that had fallen during World War Two.
Anthony W. Young:
What's important to remember is the men and women that served and sacrificed their lives in order to make our country free. If you visit Veterans Memorial Island Sanctuary, you will have the same feeling that you have if you visit Arlington Cemetery in Washington, DC. It's hallowed ground. And it's hallowed because of the memory of all of the men that have served our country and women. And it's it's a living legacy to the people that are here today. Three years ago, was the 50th anniversary for Memorial Island. I know without a doubt, 50 years from now, people will come and say this place is sacred.
Ruth Stanbridge:
As a historian It is very important to remember our history and especially of World War Two. Lest we forget this could happen again. So we need to always be vigilant and always on guard.