The memorial honoring the 184 people who were killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the Pentagon will open tonight after a morning dedication ceremony.
The first national memorial dedicated to those killed in the four hijacked-airline attacks consists of 184 memorial cantilevered benches, honoring the 59 people aboard American Airlines Flight 77 and the 125 in the Pentagon who were killed in the attack.
The benches are arranged by age, with the bench honoring 3-year-old Dana Falkenberg in the southeast corner of the site and the bench dedicated to 71-year-old John Yamnicky in the northwest corner. The site itself is in the southwest corner of the Pentagon Reservation, outside of the building’s west wall where the plane hit.
Jim Laychak, president of the Pentagon Memorial Fund, has worked over the past five and a half years to raise money for the site. Laychak’s brother Dave, an Army budget analyst, was one of the people killed in the attack seven years ago.
“Things look great right now,” he said, speaking from the site Wednesday. “I think it’s going to be a great day for America.”
“I think there’s been a common bond that’s been shared with everyone,” he added. “It makes you feel good.”
Laychak took his wife and two children to the site Sunday, one of three days this week when it was open to victims’ family members and guests.
“The fact is that this is a remembrance to a sacrifice of the people who lost their lives that day,” said Chief James Schwartz of the Arlington Fire Department.
Arlington Fire was the first department to respond after an American Airlines jet crashed into the west wall at 9:37 a.m. on the sunny Tuesday morning, with personnel arriving about two minutes after receiving the emergency report.
About 20 Arlington firefighters plan to attend the ceremony, which starts at 8 a.m., he said.
“The families that have worked so hard on this memorial deserve this,” he said. “There’s been a lot of criticism about the response on 9/11 — the response to the Pentagon really was, I would say, a hallmark of success.”
Though police officers and firefighters have received much praise for their bravery in the aftermath of the attack, “The real heroes that morning were the people who work in the Pentagon,” he said. “I think almost everyone who was not injured were helping people out of the building.”
The site will open to the public at 7 p.m. today, and will be open 24 hours a day to the public thereafter.
Jerry Mullins, a spokesman for the project, said $24 million has been raised for the $22 million project, and personnel are trying to raise an additional $10 million to cover future maintenance expenses.
Donors include the states of Maryland and Virginia, Fairfax County, and the countries of Taiwan, Korea and Australia.
