The rock is located on private property and was used for
graffiti. Since 1999, however, it is repainted every year in time for
Memorial Day with the purpose of thanking
U.S. veterans and their families for their
military service and
sacrifice.[4][5] The rock is painted by
Ray "Bubba" Sorensen II from
Greenfield.[6][7] Sorensen is not commissioned or paid to paint The Freedom Rock, he uses his own money along with donations and sales of Freedom Rock merchandise to fund the project.[8] After watching Saving Private Ryan as a 19 year old at Iowa State University in 1999, Bubba was moved and painted the first Freedom Rock before Memorial Day with the words "THANK YOU VETERANS FOR OUR FREEDOM" over a painting of the six
Marinesraising the United States flag atop
Mount Suribachi on
Iwo Jima.[3][9][10]
In the Spring of 2013, Sorensen began The Iowa Freedom Rock Tour by painting a Freedom Rock (patriotic themed rock) in every county in Iowa at a cost of [11] US$5,000 plus lodging & supplies per rock, creating a unique statewide veterans memorial for the state. The rocks placed in each county will not be repainted every year.[12][13] He expected to take ten years to complete the painting of a freedom rock in each of Iowa's 99 counties, but in a 2016 update interview during only his fourth year of his Iowa tour, he expects to complete the Iowa tour in seven or eight years and has only ten more counties in Iowa to book.[6][7] As he completes the last four years of his Iowa tour, he will begin a nationwide 50 state tour.[6][7] He plans to paint some freedom rocks of the 50 state tour in warmer places than Iowa during December, January, and February, starting with Alabama in the winter of 2016–7.[7] On October 27, 2016, the
Greene County's Freedom Rock which is located in front of the grain elevator in
Jefferson became the 55th rock he has painted in Iowa.[14] On November 11, 2018, a Freedom Rock was unveiled at the Iowa Veterans Cemetery near
Van Meter, Iowa.[15] In 2021 on the 20th anniversary of
9/11 attacks in 2001, he painted portraits on the first Freedom Rock, which is located near Menlo, honoring
Oscar Austin,
Pat Tillman, and others.[16] On September 18, 2021, he completed The Iowa Freedom Rock Tour with the unveiling of his 99th Freedom Rock in Iowa which is located at the
Central City Fairgrounds in
Linn County, Iowa.[9][17][18][19] His 100th Freedom Rock will be auctioned off with community bids accepted until November 1 and the announcement of the community purchasing the 100th Freedom Rock will be on November 11,
Veterans Day, 2021.[19]
In June 2022, after Sorensen had painted a Freedom Rock in all 99 counties of Iowa,[20] he painted the 100th Freedom Rock in
Altoona, Iowa, at
Adventureland near the Adventureland Inn which is his last Freedom Rock during his Iowa Freedom Rock Tour.[4][5][21][22]
^"Freedom Rock Tour pamphlet"(PDF). Travel Iowa (www.traveiowa.com): the Official Iowa Tourism and Travel website. October 21, 2021. Archived from
the original(PDF) on May 26, 2023. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
The Freedom Rock Tour pamphlet which lists the addresses of Freedom Rocks in Iowa as of October 21, 2021 (printable pdf file) and
archived copy from Travel Iowa: the Official Iowa Tourism and Travel website