On December 9, students from the Washington Program met with Fred Shear ’03 at the Pentagon. A staff writer for Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Shear briefed the students on the organization and operation of the military command. Students then toured the 3,705,793 square foot building that has 17.5 miles of corridors and 23,000 employees, military and civilian. The group also visited the Pentagon Memorial honoring the 184 people whose lives were lost on September 11, 2001.
According to the Pentagon Web site, “The park itself is designed to be a place of remembrance, reflection, and renewal, and is structured in a highly specific and unique way. Consisting of 184 memorial units dedicated to each individual victim, the park is organized as a timeline of the victims’ ages, spanning from Dana Falkenberg, age 3, to John Yamnicky, age 71.
"Additionally, to distinguish victims on board Flight 77 from those who were inside the Pentagon, 59 memorial units face one direction, and 125 face the other. The park is also defined with an age wall: a wall that raises in height one inch per year relative to the age lines running along the memorial benches, growing from 3 inches above the perimeter bench at Dana’s memorial, to 71 inches above the bench at Mr. Yamnicky’s.”
According to the Pentagon Web site, “The park itself is designed to be a place of remembrance, reflection, and renewal, and is structured in a highly specific and unique way. Consisting of 184 memorial units dedicated to each individual victim, the park is organized as a timeline of the victims’ ages, spanning from Dana Falkenberg, age 3, to John Yamnicky, age 71.
"Additionally, to distinguish victims on board Flight 77 from those who were inside the Pentagon, 59 memorial units face one direction, and 125 face the other. The park is also defined with an age wall: a wall that raises in height one inch per year relative to the age lines running along the memorial benches, growing from 3 inches above the perimeter bench at Dana’s memorial, to 71 inches above the bench at Mr. Yamnicky’s.”
