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GUNLOCK, Washington County — Washington County resident Eddie Mac Jones witnessed enough events to write a book during his two decades serving with Southern Utah's locally famous 222nd Field Artillery Battalion.
Instead, for this first publication, he chose to write "Gunlock Stories," which chronicles his experiences while being raised in Washington County circa the 1940s.
"We moved to St. George when I was 10 years old," Jones said. "All of these stories are from my time in Gunlock before then."
Much like growing up in any small town, there are stories of tragedy, redemption, grit and gratitude in the book that bears the town's name. One of them, the death of a young man visiting the Leavitts, inspired the whole book.
In 1944, the phenomenon called aurora borealis caused by magnetic storms could be seen from southern Utah, Jones said. Without internet search engines or 24-hour news channels, those who didn't know about the northern lights could only wonder about what they were seeing.
