9/11 Pentagon Memorial Honors 184 Lost Lives

The seventh anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks will be commemorated in part by the dedication of the Pentagon Memorial, which honors the victims who lost their lives in the attack on the Pentagon.

According to a U.S. Department of Defense Web site, http://www.defenselink.mil/home/features/2008/0708_memorial/index.html the Pentagon Memorial contains one memorial unit for each of the 184 people at the Pentagon who died in the attack. The units are placed in a collective field and are arranged by the timeline of the victims’ ages – from Dana Falkenberg, 3, to John D. Yamnicky, 71.

The memorial units also are positioned to distinguish the victims who lost their lives within the Pentagon from the 59 people who died on American Airlines Flight 77. Visitors will face the sky when reading the names of the airline victims, and will have a view of the Pentagon when reading the names of those who died inside the Pentagon.

The Depart of Defense Web site describes the memorial units as being “at once a glowing light pool, a cantilevered bench and a place for permanent inscription of each victim’s name.” The park was designed to create an atmosphere of “peace and remembrance.”

The groundbreaking statement on the memorial’s entry stone reads: “We claim this ground in remembrance of the events of Sept. 11, 2001 to honor the 184 people whose lives were lost, their families, and all those who sacrifice that we may live in freedom. We will never forget.”

A dedication ceremony was held the morning of Sept. 11 for invited guests, and the memorial will be open for the public beginning at 7:00 p.m. that evening. The memorial will be open 24 hours a day, 7 days week year-round. Visitors are encouraged to use public transportation; parking is not available.

Plans for a memorial in New York City at the Word Trade Center site are underway, with an expected completion date of 2011. A Pennsylvania memorial, commemorating the lives lost in Flight 93, also is scheduled to be completed by 2011.