Pentagon Memorial Progress Is Step Forward for Families

Construction of the benches has been organized into nine groups, labeled A to I. Section A will memorialize victims born from 1930 to 1938. Each bench will be given a number when it is built. Until they are installed, only a few members of the design and building teams will know what number corresponds to what name.

Integrating the water, benches, lighting, trees and landscaping on a live construction site is like building a giant puzzle. Between the concrete pilings that will support the benches and age lines that will run across the site, five- and six-foot-high black plastic pipes were sticking out of the ground yesterday. The pipes will be used to circulate the water to the individual reflection pools.

Chris Hartzler of Balfour Beatty Construction, the project manager, said the benches will begin being produced during the first week of June at a foundry outside St. Louis. He said about four benches will be built each week. It will take another three weeks to polish and treat them.

"It is unique working on the memorial, because something like this has never been built before," Hartzler said. "It's not like working on a normal building project. It is a lot of planning and organizing for everyone, really. And when it is done, a lot of what you see here today that everyone has worked so hard on, you won't see. It will be underground."

Thomas Heidenberger of Chevy Chase, whose wife, Michelle Heidenberger, was a flight attendant on Flight 77, was one of the family members who toured the site yesterday.

"This is a day of excitement," he said. "You don't get to see the final product, but this is a significant step forward, not just for the family members, but for all Americans."

He said every day since Sept. 11 has been a struggle for him to move forward. Some days are easier than others, he said, but there are days when he has to force himself to put one foot in front of the other and keep moving.

Heidenberger, a retired U.S. Airways pilot, said his daughter, Alison, got married three weeks ago. Planning and celebrating the wedding was a significant help in "moving forward." But he said watching his daughter plan the wedding without having her mother there to help was a strong affirmation of the loss the family suffered.

He said he looks forward to the day when the Pentagon memorial is finished. He plans to come often to the memorial, he said, to sit on the bench and remember Michelle and the love and life they had together.