Veteran's
Tribute Park at 13500 Johnson Drive (Johnson Drive and
Pflumm Road) - is a landscaped park centered around the
Hands of Freedom monument to military veterans who have
served the United States of America.
The "Hands of Freedom" monument is the design
of the architect, Maurice D. McMullen, for the Veteran's
Tribute Park in Shawnee, Kansas. A national tribute to
all military veterans of the United States of America,
living or deceased who served during war or peace, is
located in Veterans Park at Johnson Drive and Pflumm.
The tribute was designed to be constructed in the form
of twin obelisks composed of vertical granite slabs of
varying heights reaching upward to support an open bronze-banded
globe. The symbolic meaning represents the the hands
of our many veterans striving to hold the world aloft
in Freedom. The slabs are twelve inches thick varying
in height from eight to twenty feet. The globe is six
feet in diameter. The tribute is set in what was to be
a twenty-four foot diameter reflecting waterpool. A proposed "granite" wall
was changed to stone which provides a background that
partially surrounds the tribute.
The park setting allows the Tribute to be approached
by walkways from the East, West and South, each with
a meditation station representing each major war or conflict.
Stone benches have been mounted along these walkways
for rest and reflection. The walkways have been designated
as "commemorative walks" and join a major walkway
directly in font of the tribute designated as "Freedom
Walk". The park land was donated by the City of
Shawnee in August of 1988, with completion of the project
and a formal dedication in November, 1992. |