Letter: Honor the civilians behind our veterans

I always appreciate it when people remind me of the many projects we accomplished together during my 18 years (1985-2003) as city manager of Burbank. But I actually have an even longer list of projects that were never completed!

The recent passing of Burbank Historian Extraordinaire, Mary Jane Strickland, reminded me of one of my favorites — a long overdue tribute to the civilian workers of World War II.

We rightfully honor the soldiers, sailors and airmen who heroically served in the military. But they would not have been able to do what they did without the incredible manufacturing workforce on the home front, including thousands of men and women here in Burbank.

One of my unfulfilled goals was to do a major art installation honoring those civilians heroes. As I described it to people, I often referred to it as something like a big statue of Rosie the Riveter, but something original. In my mind, I even picked out a location — the junction of Victory and Burbank boulevards, often referred to as Five Points. After I retired, the city did use that site for a statue, another nice tribute to Dr. Burbank.

As the city nears the completion of the long-delayed Empire Interchange or begins a possible new airport terminal, I urge the City Council to use our Art in Public Places program to do something truly monumental at one of those appropriately strategic locations to honor the thousands of civilians who worked so tirelessly to support our troops overseas.

Bud Ovrom

Burbank