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John Wayne Airport needs its real name. Eddie Martin along with Paul Mantz were the two driving forces which created Santa Ana Airport back in the late 1940’s and made this little airport viable by leasing it on the week-ends for a Drag Strip, known as Santa Ana Drag Strip. Eddie Martin, Paul Mantz (who died during the filming of Flight of the Phoenix with Jimmy Stewart) and famous test pilot North American Aviation Bob Hoover who gave the now John Wayne/Orange County Airport the heft to create a viable General Aviation Airport in Orange County.
When Bill Lyons created Air Cal and based his precursor to SouthWest Airlines back in the 1960’s, Western Airlines and more joined on, with lots of regional flights to Las Vegas, San Francisco and Sacramento. The burgeoning airline business in Orange County was a natural outgrowth of lots of housing development and rising home prices. The folks in Newport Beach were outraged because of all the Jet Fuel falling on their backyards and vehicles parked outside…of their high priced beach pads. The noise was deafening and all this resulted in lots of lawsuits, City Council folks being elected and ousted because of their positions on the airport. This all resulted in what they generously call a “Settlement Agreement”, which was supposed to limit the number passengers and the number of flights and the amount of noise….along with fines for breaking any of these rules. They even set up Noise Monitor Sensors around the airport and in residential areas around the City of Newport Beach and on County land.
Fast forward a few years and soon the people friendly Air Cal babes and pilots were being replaced by major airlines, and the tarmac and bar at Delaney’s in the Terminal was packed….every day. The Airport needed to expand….so….another “Settlement Agreement” was fashioned and this time we were talking about a project which would well exceed $1 Billion dollars and then go over budget many times.
The Board of Supervisor’s which included Tom Reilly and Harriet Wieder wanted their pound of flesh and so, the name game started in earnest. First they wanted Tom Reilly Terminal….which they got. Harriet Wieder got lots Campaign money and support from even Conservative Republicans. They kicked around calling the Airport Ronald Reagan or Orange County Airport…. Reagan was too political and Orange County too boring. So “the Duke” had recently passed away by 2011 and so they opted for the so-called Grand Compromise John Wayne Airport/Orange County!
This political nightmare was so gross that you really couldn’t grasp it, unless you were there on the ground. This location should be called and should have always been called “Eddie Martin International Airport”. Yes Virginia, we now have International Flights from Orange County. The time has passed for political affectations in naming stuff. They will be taking down Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt, Robert E. Lee and bunches more of people around this country who were either racists or knew someone that had some ethnic problem.
Meanwhile, next year another expansion of our Orange County Airport location will occur….called the “General Aviation Improvement Program” – which expands this property even further and should include the names of Bob Hoover and Paul Mantz. Don’t forget that right now we have named Terminals A and B – both Tom Reilly Terminals. Just make Terminal A – John Wayne Terminal and Terminal B – Tom Reilly. Ah, but the brilliance of politics never ceases. For example: As anyone can see when they visit the Huntington Beach Pier….there is a giant Cement edifice, not suitable for sitting on which has the names of all the City Council Members that put in the stupid reviewing stand for the annual Surf Contest, so that they could call the HB – Surf City! So, the quick answer is: Change the name to “Eddie Martin International Airport”. This will not hurt anyone. We do not need the moniker – “Orange County” any longer…..people in the United States and around the world know where Orange County is and where every AirBnb can be located and where every Hotel and Restaurant (at least before the Covid-Virus 19). To Michael, Patrick, Pilar and Iessa we salute you……and will never forget “The Wild Goose” or “The Searchers” or “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon”. The image of John Wayne will not suffer because his named is shifted to one the Terminals at the Eddie Martin International Airport. Meanwhile, as Hal Ketchum might say: “Time Marches On!”
[Editor’s Note: Or … perhaps there’s this possibility:]
*Someone asked what to do with the John Wayne Statue….It should go into Terminal A where every passenger that departs or lands …..sees it. Right in the Center of Terminal
A by the Restaurants.
There could be a recording loop too, coming from within the statue, with the Duke saying obnoxious things about minorities and women. Then it could be justified as history.
*Yeah Chairman Vern, and we would appreciate it if you took your personal bunny photo off of this story and put the Reagan Photo back in. Childish dear friend, unless of course you wanted the John Wayne Statue to have a button that calls out audio very clearly: “Fill your hand ….you SOB!”
I’m not sure what you’re talking about, as I don’t see a bunny photo, but I’ve inserted the only Reagan photo (including Nancy and Umberg) that I saw associated with this piece.
I took down the John Wayne dressed as a bunny photo, and replaced it with a John Wayne getting drunk photo. Is it changed AGAIN?
*Thank you guys…..didn’t recognize the Duke in Bunny get up!
All is well….
Michelle Steel Statement on John Wayne Airport
John Wayne supported the movement to make the US a home to Vietnamese refugees, he was an ardent supporter of our men and women in uniform, and his family foundation has been a national leader in cancer research.
As an immigrant to our country, I am extremely sensitive to the actions and statements of people who perpetuate and make racist statements. The comments by John Wayne from 50 years ago are wrong and sad from someone who so many people across America hold in high regard.
While I have experienced racism first-hand, I do believe that a person should be judged on the totality of their actions and contributions to society which is why I support keeping the name John Wayne Airport.
John Wayne’s contributions to families in Southern California and across America live on to this day. He personally worked to assist Vietnamese refugees resettle in America, many of whom still live here in Orange County. The John Wayne Cancer Foundation’s investments in research have resulted in groundbreaking treatments and the establishment of a cancer institute in Santa Monica. Because of his dedication to our military and country, Mr. Wayne received both the Naval Heritage Award and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States.
—————————-*We disagree ….as you might suspect.
r & a
*By the way, we did not mention the huge fight about the El Toro Airport issue, which was intensely a factor in the final outcome. Bill Krogerman, a Marine did not want an International Airport at El Toro. When pressed back in 1994…..he said that he would consider making a General Aviation Airport at El Toro, because the Loma Ridge mountain would support short runway take-offs. All in all, the John Wayne issue was strictly politics and we also might mention in passing that John Wayne supported Summary Execution for Lt. Calley back in 1971. John Wayne was great, just not a wonderful political mover or shaker….except as a nodding doggie in the window for his cadre of Generals and Nixon, who he hung out with. Having said that: Orange County Airport will always be Eddie Martin International to us. The Duke’s buddy Tom Reilly worked his magic, but that does not make it right. The Duke deserves every kudo for his years as a wonderful actor and community participant in Newport Beach. However, he should let his name “step aside” on this issue….because it represents the entire county, not just Newport Beach…in our humble opinion. Meanwhile, congratulations to the dearly departed Bill Krogerman and retired Mayor Larry Agran for their efforts to stop a giant parking lot on the 405 FOREVER! Now, if we can only find the money to build our Veterans Cemetery at El Toro…..the circle will be completed.
“A giant parking lot on the 405 FOREVER?” Where do you GET rhis stuff?
Had Strawberry Fields come into being, the portion facing the freeway would have been honoring veterans, with the cars, further away from the freeway — obviously!
I think that you’ve somehow contracted Agran poisoning.
*Dr. D., History and tradition are important aspects of the Military Services.
If there is blowback on Military Institution names, it is because so many warriors and prior service ……were there. We served at Ft. Benning, Ft. Dix and Ft. Knox and should someone want to take away those names, we would not be the only ones…”Crying the blues” about lost heritage. In the case of El Toro, since 1945 this was the staple of the USMC Air Training and Operations center in Southern California. When we changed the Mission Statement from Military to Civilian Use…..the name and the traditions of those who have served …are still there. On top of that, the land is Toxic Federal Dump that needs funds to be cleaned up, no matter whether Real Estate Developers want “Mixed Use” or a Centralized area of Orange County to Honor the Service of our Veterans. It has History, Tradition and Heritage. “Strawberry Fields” only had the Beatles…..as that backdrop…as far as we can see. If you consider that Agran “Cool Aid”……we swallowed it, Hook, Line and Sinker!
I’ll break this into two replies, one for each topic.
Here’s another great military tradition for you: opposing treason and traitors.
The Confederate leaders were both of these. They made war on the nation, leading to about 3/4 of a million battlefield casualties, most of them from the North. Far from treating them as traitors, they were left to live out long lives, continuing to oppress former slaves. They paid little penalty overall other than in wounded pride, which they salved by erecting callous lies about “northern aggression” and “it not really being about slavery.” They’ve maintained their ability to be honored for literally more than seven generations after the war. And now the terrible price they must pay is — to have statues to them taken down and facilities of public renown no longer bear their names? Oh, boo-hoo.
There are more and better things for the South to be proud of rather than the forces who fought their nation to preserve slavery and who later preserved segregation. Let them get to the renaming.
Strawberry Fields played as important a role at MCAS El Toto as its fuel dump: it was the place where abortive take-offs could land safely and planes that miscalculated landings could find succor without killing people.
Agran wanted the cemetery in ARDA — lying repeatedly to voters that ARDA was “part of the Great Park” — because it would stick in the craw of Five Point and Emile Haddad, ideally ruining the value of the luxury properties it built for the tastes of Chinese expatriates.
Because this has been strung out for so long, though, Haddad has gotten his money out of the properties and it’s likely too late for the homeowners to sue him for failing to notify them that a cemetery might be built nearby, messing up their feng shui.
That’s the Kook-Aid you drank.
R.I.P Naya Rivera, whose untimely death and role on Glee remind us that the proper name for the airport is “Santana.” She gets her own statue there too.
*Carlos Santana….that is….right? As opposed to Generalissimo Santana…eh?
President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna International Airport? You like that? Rather than Eddie Martin International?
Santana better fits “SNA”. But Martin can have a statue.
NO statue, NO name change.
Buck Dharma is a good idea