Pentagon Memorial

We did not explicitly plan to make a stop at the Pentagon Memorial but decided to swing by on our way back downtown after Mount Vernon. It was worth the stop. The stop brought back a couple of the most poignant images from our time in Washington. One was driving by the Pentagon and seeing the hole in the building where the plane hit. The other image was looking out my office and seeing the smoke from the building. While perhaps not as striking as some of the other memorials, it is quite impressive. The Memorial features 184 benches (one for each victim) that have been arranged according to the victim's ages, from 3 to 71. Each bench is engraved with the name of a victim. The benches representing the victims that were inside the Pentagon are arranged so those reading the names will face the Pentagon's south facade, where the plane hit; benches dedicated to victims aboard the plane face the other way.