Pentagon Memorial Park to be dedicated on Sept. 11

September 4, 2008, WASHINGTON, D.C. – The dedication of the Pentagon Memorial Park will take place on Sept. 11 at 9:30 a.m., seven years after the Pentagon was attacked.

“We will never forget the horrific events of September 11, 2001 which resulted in the deaths of nearly 3,000 Americans,” U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon said. “This memorial recognizes each of the 184 lives lost at the Pentagon that day.”

On Sept. 11, 2001, al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked American Airlines Flight 77, en route from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles, and crashed the plane into the Pentagon at 9:43 a.m., about 30 minutes after two planes crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York.

“The terrorists who attacked us on September 11 sought to demoralize us and create fear in our society. They failed in those efforts,” Gordon said. “The Congress and the President are taking steps to prevent such a tragedy from ever happening again, from requiring more stringent inspection of cargo entering the United States to making sure first responders can communicate with each other during emergencies.”

The Pentagon Memorial Park was built at the site of the crash and each memorial unit within the park is dedicated to an individual victim, organized from the youngest, 3-year-old Dana Falkenberg, to the oldest, 71-year-old John D. Yamnicky.

Each memorial is positioned to distinguish the victims on board American Airlines Flight 77 from the victims within the Pentagon. A visitor to the park will face the sky when reading the names on the memorials of the 59 lives lost on American Airlines Flight 77 and will see the Pentagon and the memorial units dedicated to the 125 victims who were inside the Pentagon in the same view.

The Pentagon Memorial will open to the public at 7 p.m. on Sept. 11 and will remain open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.