Profile: Ray Sorensen and the Freedom Rock

Not everyone has to be a soldier to contribute to the well-being of a nation. Contributions can come from the hand holding a rifle or a paintbrush. In an age when many artists provocatively use their talents as a means of criticizing the military, Ray “Bubba” Sorensen is using his talents to honor U.S. veterans. Men should find ways to use their unique gifts in the service of the polis.

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Off the side of a highway in Menlo, Iowa (population 365), is a large granite rock, weighing approximately fifty-six tons. It is an unusual sight in the middle of the easy slopes of the Iowa plain, a twelve-foot tall, unshapely lump—a massive piece of stone rising from the prairie, where corn stalks usually dominate the landscape. And if that were not strange enough, it has been painted every Memorial Day by a man named Bubba.

Ray “Bubba” Sorenson II, of nearby Des Moines, watched the movie Saving Private Ryan in 1999 as a nineteen-year-old. Moved by a new realization of the sacrifice which war entails, Sorenson decided to utilize his natural gifts as an artist, and made the rock, now dubbed the “Freedom Rock,” the canvas on which he would pay tribute to America’s veterans.

A graphic designer by vocation, Sorenson’s decision to paint the rock was warmly received in the community. Before Sorenson showed up, the Freedom Rock was speckled with the graffiti of local kids. Now, it is covered in beautiful scenes commemorating the American fighting man: Marines raising the flag at Iwo Jima, Washington Crossing the Delaware, a veteran grieving at the Vietnam Wall memorial, a famous depiction of firefighters and police on 9/11, and the bombing of Pearl Harbor have all been represented in great detail. Though he initially decided he would only paint it each year until 2003, Sorenson’s work was so warmly received that he has returned each year to paint new scenes, at the urging of local residents and veterans groups.

He took a call from an American Legion Post in Colorado, he told USA Today in 2007.

“I had to talk to every legion member. I was probably on the phone for three hours,” he says. “They were all giving reasons why I shouldn’t quit.”

A few years ago, after one California veterans’ group wanted to scatter the ashes of some fallen heroes at the rock, Sorenson suggested a better idea. He mixed the ashes into his paint, producing a hauntingly captivating effect. Bone fragments can be seen in the vivid hues coating the crag. “Eight different Vietnam vets ended up in the paint,” he said. “It kind of made it a living memorial.” The practice continues today.

In 2011 his work commemorated the Navy SEALs in their killing of Osama bin Laden, and the bravery of Army Staff Sgt. Sal Giunta, an Iowa native who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroism in Iraq, the highest honor for valor that can be awarded to a member of the armed forces.

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Reverence for our troops is nothing new in America. But in an age when our nation’s social fabric is less and less tied together by the bonds of wartime sacrifice, it is easy to be complacent in our tribute to the military. We can donate some money, post a note on Facebook, or stand and clap for the soldiers sitting in a luxury suite at a ballgame and feel good about ourselves. Little is asked of us on behalf of those that gave so much. Sorenson’s decision to continue to paint the rock each year speaks of his willingness to use his own talents, time, and money for the service of his country. He is not satisfied with society’s status quo gestures of honoring our troops.

Sir George Canning, the British Foreign Secretary of the early nineteenth century, once posed the question, “When our perils are past, shall our gratitude sleep?” Let us recall the most praiseworthy members of society with all due honor and respect, through the labors of our hands and our hearts, as does Ray Sorenson.