Pentagon Memorial

I saw the dedication ceremony of the Pentagon Memorial on 9/11/2008 on television while I was in AZ last week, and I visited it in person a few nights ago. The concept is pretty simple, but there are a lot of small touches that add up to a nice memorial. There is a single bench for each person that died in the attack. Each row of benches represents the birth year of the victims. The benches are arranged so visitors face the Pentagon to read the names of victims that were in the building, and visitors face the sky when reading the names of victims that were in the plane. There are 184 benches total. Seeing all 184 benches lit up at night really makes you think about the individuals that were lost.

Veronica has a wonderful account of her experience that day in 2001. Personally, I was in my car on the way to class that morning when I first heard the news. I remember most people being very scared, and there were rumors of other buildings being hit like the State Department building. I don't think I will forget how quiet the rest of the day felt except for the sound of occasional fighter jets flying overhead. I encourage everyone to visit the memorial if they are anywhere near Washington, DC. Here are some pictures that I took over the weekend:











See the rest here on flickr.