Sept. 11 Remembrance
The dedication of the Pentagon Memorial

Thursday, September 11, 2008

AMERICAN Airlines Flight 77 took off from Dulles International Airport at 8:21 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2001, bound for Los Angeles. At 9:37 a.m., the aircraft, traveling at 530 mph, crashed into the Pentagon, killing the 59 people on board and 125 inside the Defense Department building. The assault was one prong of the worst-ever terrorist attack on American soil. Today, on the seventh anniversary, there is reason not only for sorrowful remembrance but also for quiet satisfaction in a story of community and generosity that has produced the Pentagon Memorial.

A worldwide design competition for the 1.93-acre site was won by New York architects Julie Beckman and Keith Kaseman in 2003. Construction began in 2006. Their inspired plan features 184 benches, one for each victim. The benches are 14-foot-long cantilevered arcs of rust-proof steel, each over a small reflecting pool that will glow from within at night. The arcs are arranged according to age. The youngest victims were sisters Dana and Zoe Falkenberg, 3 and 8 years old, respectively, and the oldest was 71-year-old John D. Yamnicky. And the benches are laid out according to the location of the victims at the time of the attack. The Pentagon will be in the background for visitors viewing the nameplates of those who died in the building. For the nameplates of those who were on Flight 77, the backdrop will be the sky. There are also about 80 paperbark maple trees. Ms. Beckman has said the trees change color later than most trees in Arlington and will provide a burst of red against the drab winter sky.

The Pentagon Memorial, to be dedicated today, is the first of the three major Sept. 11 memorials to open. Finding the most appropriate way to honor the dead is never easy. Paying homage to those who lost their lives in a moment of searing national pain can be almost impossible. Just look at the bickering and delays that have bedeviled the Ground Zero site in New York City. Seven years after the twin towers of the World Trade Center fell, a memorial remains a long way off.

The $32 million project in Virginia was financed with private donations alone. That the project came together quickly and with minimal rancor is a testament to the collective outpouring of support that makes this outstanding memorial to loss a symbol of shared sacrifice.