Memorial Hours

24 hours a day, 7 days a week

Design Elements

The 184 souls lost in the terrorist attack at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, when hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon, were mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, children, brothers, sisters, coworkers, flight crew, friends, patriots.

Pentagon Memorial

The Pentagon Memorial captures that moment in time at 9:37 a.m. when 184 lives became intertwined for eternity.  Each victim’s age and location at the time of the attack have been permanently inscribed into the Memorial by the unique placement and direction of each of the 184 Memorial Units.

Elegant and simple, the Pentagon Memorial serves as a timeline of the victims’ ages, spanning from the youngest victim, three-year-old Dana Falkenberg, who was on board American Airlines Flight 77, to the oldest, John D. Yamnicky, 71, a Navy veteran, also aboard Flight 77 that morning.

 

The Pentagon Memorial Gateway

The 184 Memorial Units within the Pentagon Memorial are located on the age line according to the year the victim was born.  The age lines, denoted by stainless steel strips that cross the Memorial, begin at the zero line, which spans from the Gateway to the entrance of the Memorial.  Etched into the granite zero line is the date and time of the attack:  “SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 9:37 A.M.”

Visitors to the Memorial may look up a victim’s name and birth year on the locator stone within the Pentagon Memorial Gateway.  On age lines with multiple victims, the Memorial Units are organized by birth date along that line.

 

The Memorial Units

Each Memorial Unit is a cantilevered bench, a lighted pool of flowing water, and a permanent tribute, by name, to each victim, in one single element.  Each memorial bench is made of stainless steel and inlaid with smooth granite.  Each Memorial Unit contains a pool of water, reflecting light in the evenings onto the bench and surrounding gravel field.

Each Memorial Unit is also specifically positioned in the Memorial to distinguish victims who were in the Pentagon from those who were on board American Airlines Flight 77. At the 125 Memorial Units honoring the victims of the Pentagon, visitors see the victim’s name and the Pentagon in the same view. At the Memorial Units honoring the 59 lives lost on Flight 77, the visitor sees the victim’s name and the direction of the plane’s approach in the same view.

Victims from the same family are linked by a plaque at the end of the pool of water, which lists their family members who also died in the attack, forever binding the family together.

 

The Pentagon Memorial Landscape

Within the Pentagon Memorial, 85 Crape Myrtles are clustered around the Memorial Units, but are not dedicated to any one victim.  These trees will grow up to 30 feet to provide a canopy of shade over the Memorial for years to come.

The Memorial’s stabilized gravel surface is bordered on the western edge by an Age Wall.  The Age Wall grows one inch per year in height above the perimeter bench relative to the age lines.  As visitors move through the Memorial, the wall gets higher, growing from three inches (the age of Dana Falkenberg) to 71 inches (the age of John D. Yamnicky).

The Age Wall draws the eye to the Memorial for drivers passing by on Washington Boulevard and the adjacent Arlington County Bike Path, while ensuring solitude for visitors.  Ornamental grasses mark the boundaries of the Memorial.

The Pentagon Memorial design was developed by Julie Beckman and Keith Kaseman. Their vision for the Memorial was selected from more than 1,100 submissions by a panel of architects, family members, and public figures in the Washington, D.C. area, including two former Secretaries of Defense.

The Pentagon Memorial is the first national memorial dedicated to the horrific events that unfolded on September 11, 2001 — events that claimed 184 lives at the Pentagon, and thousands more around the United States. The Pentagon Memorial is also dedicated to future generations that they might reflect upon and renew their faith in shared American values.

The Memorial

Discover the elements of the 9/11 Pentagon Memorial

View The Memorial
9/11 Event Timeline

9/11 Event Timeline

The interactive timeline contains information about the events of September 11, 2001 at the World Trade Center in New York City, in a grassy field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and at the Pentagon.

9/11 Pentagon Memorial Heroes

Meet the Heroes

184 lives were lost at the Pentagon on 9/11. 59 passengers aboard American Airlines flight 77 and 125 workers and civilians inside of the Pentagon. We will never forget.