Seven Years Later

Renee was able to get us two tickets to attend the Pentagon Memorial Dedication today at the Pentagon. It was an incredible event and the Memorial is amazing. So well thought out and designed I can't wait to see it. The actual Memorial is only open to Special Guests today, but will open to the public at 7pm this evening for the first time. For now I have posted a bunch of pictures from the dedication ceremony.

We arrived at the Pentagon at 5:55am. They were expecting over 15,000 people to attend the dedication and we wanted to make sure that we got good seats. Just outside of the seating area there was a group of almost 3000 American Flags to pay tribute to all of the victims of the Sept 11th attacks. In the back ground you can see the Air Force Memorial. The Spire reaching off to the right of the picture shows the path that American Airlines Flight 77 took as it hit the Pentagon.Here is the Dedication's Program with the stage and Pentagon in the background. Just beyond the stage is the Memorial. The ceremony started with a wonderful concert with musical performances by selected groups from each of the Armed Services.
During the ceremony the names of the 184 victims were read for the first time at the Pentagon. As each name was read a bell was rang. Take note of the airplane in the background of this picture. Every few minutes a plane flew by on it's final approach to Regan International Airport in Arlington, VA. This is the normal flight path of these planes.
Here you can see the first American Flag to fly over the Pentagon Memorial. Today they will be flying the Flag at half staff as you can see in the image below.
The event was well attended by many of the leaders of the US Armed Forces. Speeches were given by Former Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense Gates, The Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mullen, and President Bush.
Mr. Rumsfeld and President Bush were warmly welcomed by the audience.
The President of the United States of America.
Look at the video on the projector. It shows the side of the Pentagon that was hit by the airplane. It was out of view from the seating area as they placed the Memorial directly in front of that section of the Pentagon.Here you can see the Speakers right as they unveiled the Memorial. The blue cloths were covering each of the 184 benches which now memorialize the victims of the Sept 11th attack on the Pentagon.
Another view of the 3000 flags.
Each flag was dedicated to a victim of the Sept 11th attacks.It was an amazing dedication and I feel honored to be able to attend this event. It's really hard to believe its been seven years. I can still vividly remember being awaken by a phone call from my mom during my Junior Year of college at UD in my Ray Street Dorm room telling me to turn on my tv. Sept 11th showed me that the greatest thing about the USA is the spirit of her people, of which our flag displays so well.