The Pentagon Memorial

I was reading the newspaper on Saturday and learned about the Pentagon Memorial. Did you know it existed and that it was the first September 11th memorial dedicated? I didn't. It's right next to the side of the Pentagon where the plane went into the building. It's actually a really neat memorial and I want to start taking visitors there to see it. I went to the Pentagon Memorial website and learned about the design and meaning behind the memorial and now I like it even more.

 There are 184 benches and each bench represents a person who was killed that day, either in the Pentagon or on Flight 77. They are in an "Age Line" starting with the youngest passenger who was only 3 years old and ends with the oldest person killed who was 71. Each birth year has its own line and the lines are at a 45 degree angle so it mimics the flight pattern the plane took before crashing into the building.

Each person has his or her name written on the end of the bench. Another neat thing is the designer made it so if you're reading the name of the person and you're facing the Pentagon the person was in the building. If you're reading the name and facing the sky then that person was on Flight 77.

There is also an "Age Wall" around the side of the memorial which starts at 3 inches tall and gradually ends at 71 inches tall. I think it's really special how the designer was able to really represent each person that was killed that day.

Macy reflecting.

The ground was gravel which is very fun to play with.

Macy climbing to the top of the bench.

It also looks like it would be very pretty at night.

photo credit