John Wayne Airport, Aviator Eddie Martin

In an effort at internal admiration, a member of the County Board of Supervisors has suggested naming the terminal after one of its members.

The terminal could be named John Wayne Terminal if John Wayne’s name is taken off the airport.

Actually, there is no need for a name on the terminal. If the name of the airport is Orange County, then the terminal is Orange County Airport Terminal.

Now is the time to stop all the confusion and misconceptions that were created by the addition of the name John Wayne. At the time John Wayne’s name was adopted by the Board of Supervisors, there was no prior research study done, nor any staff report heard, no committee was appointed, no notice was given to the public and it was not even placed on the agenda.

There was a lot of opposition voiced against the name John Wayne at that time, and over the years, the board has been approached by a lot of people to change it.

Please note that John Wayne only acted out the hero in many movies. As for Tom Riley, it is during his tenure that we in Orange County went from a livable surrounding to a congested, smoggy and less pleasant area without enough roads and airports and now an airport terminal on the wrong side of the runway.

Let’s wait 100 years to see if anyone is worthy of having his name placed on top of an airport building. For now, it definitively should be called only “Orange County/SNA Terminal.”

LARS DE JOUNGE

Corona del Mar