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Commemorative Landscapes of North Carolina
Commemorative Landscapes of North Carolina
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Source:  Freedom Tree, Elizabethtown. Photo courtesy of bobbystuff.com

  • Monument Name

    Freedom Tree, Elizabethtown

  • Type

    Marker

    Tree

  • Subjects

    Vietnam War, 1960-1975

  • City

    Elizabethtown

  • County

    Bladen

  • Description

    The Freedom Tree memorial is a small granite panel approximately two-feet high and three-feet wide. It has finished faces with rough hewn edges. It stands a few feet from the actual Freedom Tree.

  • Inscription

    THE FREEDOM TREE / WITH THE VISION OF UNIVERSAL FREEDOM / FOR ALL MANKIND / THIS TREE IS DEDICATED TO / MEN OF BLADEN COUNTY / WHO WERE KILLED / OR / MISSING IN ACTION IN SOUTHEAST ASIA / 1973

  • Custodian

    Bladen County

  • Dedication Date

    1973

  • Decade

    1970s

  • Geographic Coordinates

    34.628570 , -78.605730 View in Geobrowsemap pin

  • Supporting Sources

      “Bladen County Courthouse in Elizabethtown, North Carolina,” Bobbystuff.com, (accessed November 5, 2023) Link

  • Public Site

    Yes

  • Materials & Techniques

    Granite

  • Subject Notes

    There are numerous Freedom Tree memorials across the United States with similar inscriptions to servicemen killed and missing in action in Southeast Asia. The only wording differences being some were to an individual and the missing in action and some were to all those who died and the missing in action. Most, if not all, seem to have been placed in 1973, with the last United States troops having been withdrawn from Vietnam in March of that year. The organization or movement behind these markers and tree plantings was not determined.

  • Location

    The marker stands on the grounds of the Bladen County Courthouse in Elizabethtown, NC a few inches away from the Bladen County Veterans Bell. Other memorials stand on the lawn: the Battle of Elizabethtown marker, the Sallie Salter Monument, the Fallen Heroes Memorial. The street address is 166 E. Broad Street.

  • Landscape

    The monument stands at the northeast edge of the Bladen County Courthouse lawn. The lawn is also decorated with shady trees and benches.

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