To Remember

Last Monday I went with my friend Anne to the Pentagon Memorial. I've been to almost all of the memorials and this one by far is my favorite. It seems to me like it was more thought out than the others . . . There's more detail to it. When we got there we didn't really know how to make sense of what we were looking at, but then we started talking to a nice "older" couple who explained it to us. They said that the walk way around the memorial is made out of the rubble of the building, then they pointed out how you can see on the Pentagon, where the plane crashed. Chilling. Then there are these interesting markers coming out of the ground. They pointed out that the direction the marker is facing indicates where the person it's representing died; in the plane or in the Pentagon. The markers are arranged by birth year and has each person's name on the end of it. If that person had family members who also died in the attack, their names are listed below the marker, in the water. You are then able to go around and find the site for each individual in the family. The youngest person to die in the attack on the pentagon was born in 1989 and both her parents and sibling were killed along side her. Going to any memorial is a somber experience, but the fact that I distinctly remember 9/11 enhanced this particular visit. It's surreal to actually stand in the place where this tragedy took place and remember all the things that went on during that period of our country's history. I guarentee this won't me the last time I go there.

I would highly recommend that if you ever get the chance to visit DC, that you put The Pentagon Memorial on the top of your places to see. Just a little tip: take the metro and go at night. There's not really any place you can legally park at the Pentagon at anytime, and also if you go at night it's all lit up and it adds to the atmosphere.