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 Shawnee's Veterans Park at Johnson Drive and Pflumm. The "Hands of Freedom" monument is the design of the architect, Maurice D. McMullen, which was designed for the Veteran's Tribute Park.

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.