I’ve lived in the DC area for many years, including when the 9/11 attacks occurred, but until yesterday, I had never been to the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial that honors the lives lost in Arlington on that tragic day. With the 25th anniversary of September 11 approaching, I felt like it was time to finally go and recently paid a visit.
Located just outside the Pentagon, the Memorial is open to the public 24/7 and easy to access — once you know how to get there. You can’t park at the Pentagon, but if you ride Metro or drive to the Pentagon City Mall, it’s a short walk away.
Start outside the Macy’s entrance on Army-Navy Drive and cross the street to the Pentagon using the crosswalk near the entrance to the mall’s parking garage.
From there, follow signs directing you to the Pentagon Memorial. Make your way across the small parking lot to the tunnel — it will be obvious — then walk through to the larger parking lot. Once you emerge, directly in front of you will be a walking path between cars that you follow to a sidewalk at the end. [Note that no photos are allowed in this area of the Pentagon premises.]
Make a left and follow the sidewalk around to a sign with rules for visiting the Memorial and a phone number for the Audio Tour. I highly recommend listening to it, as it explains what happened at the Pentagon that day and, more importantly, the meaning behind many design elements of the Memorial. It made me notice details I might otherwise have missed, some discussed here and many that aren’t mentioned.
Just beyond that point, you will see a granite inscription stone etched with the date and time of the attack and another noting the purpose of the site. The main part of the Memorial is just beyond that…
The Pentagon Memorial is beautiful, peaceful, and very thoughtfully designed. With 184 open-ended granite benches, one for each person who died at the Pentagon and aboard American Airlines Flight 77, it’s a contemplative place that moves you to remember and reflect.
Each bench displays a victim’s name and sits over a shallow pool of flowing water. The benches are arranged by the years in which they were born, from the youngest, three-year-old Dana Falkenberg (1998), to the oldest, 71-year-old John Yamnicky (1930). The direction of each bench is significant, too. Those honoring people who were on the plane face toward the sky, while those honoring people who were in the Pentagon face toward the building. And something about the curved, open-ended benches makes them look as if they’re in motion, almost flowing up from the ground…
I was also struck by the way the Memorial acknowledges families. When multiple members of a family died that day, their names are also etched into the base of the fountain, connecting them to one another.
The sound of the flowing water, the trees and the open space make the Memorial feel remarkably serene. You can actually sit on the benches, which I think is part of what makes the space so meaningful — it gives you a place to simply pause and take it all in.
National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial
Where: 1 Rotary Road | Arlington, VA
When: Daily, 24 hours a day
Admission: Free
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