Artist Creating Tribute To World War II Pilot Bud Anderson

AUBURN (CBS13) — An artist is creating a statue in honor of a World War II fighter pilot.

The statue is a tribute to Bud Anderson for his service to our country, and the sculptor has fronted the money to get the project started.

He's spent hundred of hours focusing on all the details to get the sculpture of the 91-year-old World War II fighter pilot exactly right.

Being a colonel, Bud is used to being in charge and has visited sculptor Douglas Van Howd's studio a lot to make sure the his sculpture looks exactly like him.

Bud is a triple ace from Auburn—meaning he's shot down 16 and a quarter planes—and he frequently speaks at aviation events.

He doesn't seem to understand why all the fuss over him. To him it was just a part of his life. He questions why anyone cares about making this statue right now.

"He says, 'Don't you want to wait until I'm dead.' I said, 'No Bud, we need to do this now. The community wants it.'"

Douglas says it will take about a year to finish the fighter jet. So far, he has used more than $50,000 of his own money to create a life-size Bud in bronce.

"I just went ahead and did things on my own, no matter what, because I was determined it would be done."

The statue will cost $100,000 and still needs help with funding. To help, get in touch with the Auburn Aviation Association.