Families Find Solace In Pentagon Site

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Family Members Visit Pentagon Memorial

The Pentagon Memorial is to be dedicated on Sept. 11, the seventh anniversary of the terrorist attacks. At the start of the Memorial Day weekend, Wendy Ploger was among more than a dozen family members of victims gathered at the site.

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At the south end of the site, an excavator scooped up dirt, grading the ground for an entrance to the memorial. Family members expressed delight at the work continuing around them.

"I love it that they're still working while we're here," said Wendy Ploger, who lost her father, Robert P. Ploger, in the attack.

Family members chatted with construction workers, who proudly showed off their work.

"When they take the time to thank everyone who's working at the site, it goes a long way with the guys," said Hartzler, the project manager.

About half of the 90 paperbark maples planned for the memorial have been planted, scattered among the benches. The trees, now eight to 12 feet tall, will grow to 30 feet with large canopies of red foliage in the fall.

The Pentagon Memorial Fund has raised $19 million of the $22 million needed for construction, including $3 million collected in the past three months, fund president James Laychak announced yesterday. An additional $10 million is needed for an endowment that would maintain the site.

"We still have a ways to go, but I'm confident we'll get there," said Laychak, whose brother David Laychak was killed in the attack. "When we dedicate the memorial, it will be an historic day," he added, noting that this will be the first national Sept. 11 memorial to open.

Fisher, sitting on his father's bench, recalled seeing the architect's rendering for the memorial and marveled at its transformation into steel, concrete and granite.

"It's something I can touch and feel rather than see in pictures," he said, rubbing his fingers across the smooth granite. "It's gone from nothing to this."