The Pentagon Memorial

Obviously this Post is a bit overdue since the event occurred on September 11, but thanks to Dave's dad we had the opportunity to attend the dedication ceremony for the Pentagon Memorial.
For the ceremony, the Pentagon set up 3,000 flags representing all the victims of 9-11, and flags with blue ribbons represented those killed at the Pentagon. I tried to take the photo at several different angles, but you still don't get the feel for the field of flags that we saw.
The seating arrangement was enormous. I heard estimates that there were 17,000 people there. I'm honestly not sure...I would have guessed a lot fewer than that, but I've never been good at figuring out crowd size.
While I knew that Secretary of Defense Gates would be there, I was surprised when I spotted Secretary Rice quietly entering from the sidelines (I saw a large crowd of suits discreetly seating themselves moments before the program began, and in the middle, there she was). Other surprise guests included Former Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Vice President, and President Bush himself. Below is the best photo I could get. Rumsfeld is on the left, then Gates, President Bush, and Admiral Mullen. The man on the right was one of the main organizers of the memorial, who lost his brother in the attack.
The ceremony was truly beautiful, with every military musical group you can imagine playing great patriotic songs, including Taps, Amazing Grace on a bag pipe, An American Anthem, and God Bless America. They also had a childrens' choir perform, and the flag that hung over the Pentagon was hung, and the soldiers who draped the flag on 9-11 stood on top of the Pentagon by the flag. The most difficult part of the ceremony was the reading of the names of all the victims at the Pentagon, while their photos were projected on the large screen. The military officer reading the names was poised with a clear voice for the majority of the ceremony, but even her voice cracked as she read the name of the youngest victim: a three year old girl who died on the plane with her entire family.

We couldn't actually see the memorial from the bleachers, but the unveiling was projected on a large screen (and were unable to actually see it since you had to have time-staggered tickets to get in). Here, President Bush is getting ready to unveil one of the 184 benches that make up the memorial. Military staff unveiled the remaining memorials simultaneously. Each victim has their name carved into one of the benches, and there is a glowing light pool directly underneath each victim. The benches that represent the 59 victims on Flight 77 have the names oriented so that a visitor will face the sky when reading the name of the victim. For victims who were inside the Pentagon, the name is oriented so you are gazing towards the Pentagon.

While not one of the happiest events ever, the dedication ceremony was everything that it should have been, and Dave and I were both honored to be able to attend.

Dave chimes in: I have no idea how she found this, but my mom found a picture where you can see us on Fox New's website: Picture Link.

In the photo: look at the far right side of the picture. We're in the bleachers about five rows from the front. See the little splash of red that's barely in the picture? That's mom's shoulder. Moving to the left is Melissa. Continue moving to the left and you'll see an achingly sexy beast of a man. That would be me. I know. My modesty overwhelms you all.