The National Veterans Freedom Park
Noble Walk —The Veterans Life Journey

Many movie goers know the stories of "Private Ryan" and "Band of Brothers." These great films have done much to promote the epic stories of the veteran. However, very few realize that every veteran and veteran's family has endured hardship, sacrifice and loss, both in war and peace, to continue to preserve our freedoms. The "Life Journey of the Veteran," that we fondly call the "Noble Walk," features the works of noted sculptor, Lawrence Noble, a veteran whose father before him was a veteran and an inspiration. The "Walk" tells the story that each and every veteran and family can relate to, because, in some way, large or small, they have experienced every step of this journey. It begins with the moment no veteran will forget, that first "Sacrifice" (Available for Naming Rights) for their country, the instant they had to leave their family, not knowing where they would go and if or when they might return.

As one travels that path they are passing through the life of every veteran until they arrive at a point where they receive the "Welcome" (Available for Naming Rights) every veteran has received, either into the grateful hands of a subjugated people or into the bosom of friends and family. As George W. Bush said on October, 2001, "not every service man or woman has lived long enough to be called "veteran," but many do. Those that return home can never forget the warm embrace of their "Homecoming" (Available for Naming Rights).

Finally, at the unscheduled end of a veteran's life, serving their nation, or long after their return home, when they have aged, had time to reflect and begun new lives, the veteran's journey does necessarily end. Those left behind solemnly kneel to those who have gone before them, in "Remembrance" (Available for Naming Rights) of the sacrifice and the nobility with which they lived their lives as a veteran.