The Freedom Rock is a 60-ton boulder located in Adair Co Iowa that stands as a 12-foot tribute to America’s Veterans. The Freedom Rock is hand-painted by Iowa’s artist and illustrator, Ray “Bubba” Sorensen II. Sorensen painted small murals on the rock that honors different aspects of America’s servicemen and women.
Each year in May, for Memorial Day, Sorensen repaints the Adair Co boulder with new murals to serve as fresh reminders of the sacrifices America’s servicemen and their families have made to our country. This post is about the 2019 rocks that Sorensen painted.
Iowa Freedom Rocks
The Freedom Rock became so popular that Ray decided to spread his appreciation for the veterans by painting a Freedom Rock in every county in Iowa.
Sorensen has been painting these Freedom Rocks for 20 years and has almost completed a Freedom Rock for the 99 counties in Iowa.
No Two Alike
The Freedom rocks depict different scenes and memorialize different wars, battles or branches of the military. Some freedom rocks have scenes that retell a specific story of an American military hero.
Sorensen often confers with the counties and tries to paint scenes that are specific to veterans from their counties.
Ackley, Iowa
The summer of 2019 Ted was working in rural Iowa and as some of you know we are always looking for an adventure. On one of our weekend excursions, we happened upon the small town of Ackley Iowa.
As we were driving around we saw a sign that pointed east to the Ackley Freedom Rock Memorial. Of course, I am always interested in all things that involve rocks so hubby had no choice but to make that turn and head east.
There was the American Veterans Memorial. It was amazing to see how many men and women served in the military over the years from Hardin County, each had their name engraved and the war they served on the beautiful slabs.
And next to the Memorial was the Freedom Rock.
An Artist and a Boy Scout
Ray Sorensen had an unusual partner for the Ackley Freedom Rock. A Boy Scout, Liam Stubbe decided to take on the Ackley Freedom Rock project as his Eagle Scout project.
Liam took on the task of finding the rock and having it placed beside the War Memorial in addition to landscaping around the rock. Sorensen painted a boy scout emblem to honor the work that Liam contributed to the Freedom Rock Memorial.
The Ackley Freedom Rock
Each scene was about a different war or battle or branch of the military. Each side of the giant rock told a story and paid tribute in a unique way.
The front side of the Freedom Rock has a WWII Veteran visiting the Normandy Cemetery. This scene is based on a soldier who parachuted into Normandy and lost a good friend.
On the northwest side is the USS Indianapolis. The warship was hit and sank almost immediately taking 300 sailors lives, and another 900 were left struggling to hang on to life in the open sea while waiting to be rescued. Sadly, only 316 of those sailors survived. The sinking of that ship was the greatest single loss of life at sea in the history of the U.S. Navy.
The North and Northeast sides of the rock honor the Prisoners of War and the Missing In Action. The scenes are based on stories of Hardin County veterans. One veteran told the story of a B-17 tail gunner that was shot down and taken prisoner.
Many of Sorensen’s murals have an American flag painted as if it was draped over the top of the rock.
The Coulter Freedom Rock
Coulter is a tiny town that is near the Wind Farms where hubby works. It hosts the Franklin County Freedom Rock.
According to Wikipedia, Fleet AdmiralWilliam Daniel Leahy (May 6, 1875 – July 20, 1959) was an American naval officer who served as the senior-most United States military officer on active duty during World War II. He held multiple titles and was at the center of all major military decisions the United States made in World War II. Leahy was the first U.S. naval officer ever to hold a five-star rank in the U.S. Armed Forces.
Twenty years after the Civil War had come to an end, the people of Franklin County were intent on building a memorial honoring the Union war heroes. This is a replica of that building that is in Hampton.
Sorensen painted the ghost of the Union Soldiers that stand over the building.
On the north side of the rock is a scene that honors the service dogs and their handlers.
The American Legion Riders in the area helped Sorensen with the rock and they are also featured on the north side.
On the west side of the rock is a scene that honors those soldiers that made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. It faces the cemetery.
As with most of Ray Sorensen’s murals, he painted an American flag that covers the top of the rock.
A Man on a Mission
Ray Sorensen wants to spread his memorializing American Veterans outside of Iowa. It is his dream to paint a Freedom Rock in all 50 states.
For more reading on Ray Sorenson and the Freedom Rocks:
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