LIVING HISTORY
Vero Beach Bridge was one of three manned drawbridges that helped keep Vero Beach residents safe during World War II.
8
VERO AT 100
WAR ALONG
THE RIVER
Bridge tenders may have lived a simple life,
but there was danger
BY CHRISTINA TASCON
There was a time when bridge tenders weren’t just
maintaining the safe passage of water and vehicle
traffic. Other voluntary duties came in handy when
World War II broke out.
Janet Walker Anderson and others who lived in the drawbridge
houses in Indian River County knew what they did
to help was more than just giving access across the river. Allowing
people across was an important way to help keep the
lines of communication open between the mainland and the
barrier island.
Of course, back in the 1930s and well into the 1950s, there
JANET WALKER ANDERSON PHOTOS
was not such separation between the haves and have nots.
People were just doing what they could to make their families
live comfortably, but they saw their future in the bridges.
WINTER BEACH
During World War II, however, the job of the bridge tender
was vital to growth and the whole county’s survival. The
small regional airport in Vero was selected to become the Naval
Air Station in 1942, and aviators learned to fly and battle
there in 1943. The entire East Coast of the U.S. was threatened
by Germany with surveillance. The U.S. Coast Guard visited >>