Local veterans ask Owensboro commission to restore WWII memorial and add monument honoring female veterans

Two local veterans and organizers spoke during the public forum urging the Owensboro City Commission to restore the city’s World War II memorial and to approve a new monument that specifically honors female veterans.

Melody Wallace, a teacher and U.S. Navy veteran, and Natasha Concrete, an Army veteran and local business owner, told the commission they and other female veterans have formed a committee and developed a vision for a downtown sculpture to recognize female service members past and present. Wallace said sculptor George Lundin — the artist who created the existing Nikki Hayden sculpture downtown — has agreed to create the piece. She described a proposed arrangement that would place a three‑figure bronze (a World War II nurse, a modern servicewoman, and a young girl representing future generations) near the existing riverfront memorial area.

Natasha Concrete told the commission there is currently no monument in Owensboro that specifically recognizes female veterans and urged the city to both restore the aging World War II memorial and allow the new monument. “There is no monument in this city that honors the service of female veterans,” Concrete said. She highlighted two Owensboro women as examples: PFC Vivian Hayden and Army Nurse Corps member Mary Josephine Oberst, noting Oberst was among the nurses captured and held as prisoners of war in World War II and later returned home to serve the Owensboro community as a nurse.

Wallace and Concrete requested a plot near the Shultz Memorial and the riverfront for the monument and described plans for inscriptions honoring local female veterans and listing branches of service. The speakers said committee members first met June 19 and have since developed a design vision, fundraising and budget plans, and a partnership with the chosen sculptor. The commission did not take action during the meeting; the remarks were received as public comment.