TREE: A symbol for all Americans

I read your story about the freedom tree in the press. I would like to say I was so sad. Fred McMurray is an American hero; and we are taking down a tree that signifies the freedoms that we cherish each day.

In all the millions of dollars spent on our “new park,” we could not figure out how to keep the tree. At the end of the story, we were asked to comment on how to keep the history going with the wood of the tree? Has the city of Coeur d’ Alene not gone tree shopping lately? They are expensive. Why can’t we preserve the tree we have?

If the Freedom Tree needs to be moved, OK, move it. Then allow it to signify the same message that it has all these years since 1972, that Fred McMurray and other POWs sacrificed to keep our country free.

CATHY PENLEY

Post Falls