New book tells story of Weber County’s involvement in WWII
While researching her family's history with the military, Kim Dixon became interested in Weber County's role in World War II. After years of research, she published a book built off of historical articles and advertisements in the Standard-Examiner during the early 1940's.
While researching her family's history with the military, Kim Dixon became interested in Weber County's role in World War II. After years of research, she published a book built off of historical articles and advertisements in the Standard-Examiner during the early 1940's.
While researching her family's history with the military, Kim Dixon became interested in Weber County's role in World War II. After years of research, she published a book built off of historical articles and advertisements in the Standard-Examiner during the early 1940's.
While researching her family's history with the military, Kim Dixon became interested in Weber County's role in World War II. After years of research, she published a book built off of historical articles and advertisements in the Standard-Examiner during the early 1940's.
While researching her family's history with the military, Kim Dixon became interested in Weber County's role in World War II. After years of research, she published a book built off of historical articles and advertisements in the Standard-Examiner during the early 1940's.
WEST HAVEN — With a father that served in Iwo Jima and Okinawa and a grandmother who sent three boys off to the battle, World War II is firmly established in Kim Dixon’s family history.
Dixon’s dad, Donald Skeen, was a Navy man and part of a crew that ferried wounded Allied troops from Japan to the Philippines. Skeen’s mother, Mayme Musgrave Skeen, helplessly watched as Donald and two other sons were summoned to the fight (a fourth son later served in Korea and Vietnam).
“I’ve thought about my grandmother a lot,” the 63-year-old West Haven resident says today. “I can’t imagine what that would’ve been like — sending your boys off to a faraway place, not knowing if they’ll return.”
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Fortunately for the Skeen clan, the brothers all returned home safely — and WWII has been part of the family’s story since.
In 2014, while researching her dad’s war history, Dixon decided to broaden the narrative.
She’s recently published a nearly 500-page book on the story of Weber County and WWII. The book, titled “Weber County’s Greatest Generation,” details the war and its impacts on Weber County through a series of articles, letters and advertisements published in the Standard-Examiner.
The work is the first volume of several that will follow, covering the story from the attack on Pearl Harbor through the end of 1942. A second volume is due to be published before the year is out, Dixon said.
“I was looking through these old newspapers and you could just see with each edition, a really in-depth story was being told,” she said. “I had to put what I was seeing into a package so other people could see it too.”
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For four years, Dixon scoured every edition of the Standard-Examiner from December 1941 through October 1945. She plans to give each year of the war its own volume.
“It took hundreds and hundreds of hours,” she said. “I really couldn’t tell you exactly how long it was. But I wasn’t counting anyway because it was a labor of love. I couldn’t wait to get to the next thing.”
Dixon said she thought of her father often during the process.
“The only story he ever really told us was about watching kamikazes diving into ships,” Dixon said. “But he always talked about how even though it was hard, serving in World War II was the greatest learning experience and privilege of his life.”
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The integral role played by Weber County men and women who were worked at local military installations like Hill Air Force Base, the Ogden Arsenal, Defense Depot Ogden and the Clearfield Naval Supply Depot, was the piece of Dixon’s research that surprised her the most.
According to the Utah Division of State History, Utah had 14 military installations open during the war, combining for nearly 40,000 jobs. More than half of that workforce was employed at Hill Field, as the base was called back then.
At its war peak, Hill employed 15,000 civilians, 6,000 military personnel and several thousand prisoners of war.
“That was what stood out the most — how much Weber County contributed,” Dixon said. “Everything revolved around the war. We played a huge role.”
Dixon’s book can be purchased through her website, WeberCountysGreatestGeneration.com. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the George E. Wahlen Ogden Veterans Home.
You can reach reporter Mitch Shaw at mishaw@standard.net. Follow him on Twitter at @mitchshaw23 or like him on Facebook at Facebook.com/MitchShaw.StandardExaminer.