Members of the Friends of Flight 93 National Memorial were given a preview of the permanent memorial prior to its dedication ceremony on September 10, and the 10-year commemoration of the terror attacks on September 11. As we toured the memorial, we were told about the design and a lot of its intracacies. Every structure, every surface, everything you see or touch has meaning. It is a place of indescribable beauty...and peace.
Visitors will enter through this plaza, effectively separating the sanctuary of the memorial from the outside world. You can see how the plaza so effectively frames the memorial.
All along the walkway are these black stone benches. If you stand on one and look at the others, it becomes apparent that their shape suggests the wings of an airplane.
Up ahead, is the wall and the 40 panels, each one containing the names of the passengers and crew who fought back that day, and gave their lives in that effort. We were kept distant from this feature. NPS (National Park Service) explained that the first people to see the panels up close would be the family members.
One of the things that has been preserved is the openness of the site. One of the Docents from the New York 9/11 site marveled at "how big the sky seems from here." And of course, a vast array of colorful wildflowers, some of which will be in bloom during the spring, summer, and fall.
This grove of Hemlock trees marks the edge of the crash site.
The Hemlocks have a powerful presence throughout the design. Most obvious is in the surfaces of all the cast concrete structures. The concrete was cast in hand-hewn hemlock molds, the patterns of which have been preserved in the surfaces. This is one wall of the entry plaza. The depth of the pattern is slightly exaggerated by the rays of the setting sun.
This is the other side of the entrance plaza, where rows of benches have been set up for visitors to listen to the presentations given by the volunteer Flight 93 Ambassadors. You can see to the side a wider shot of the patterns in the concrete.
Behind Old Glory, the moon rises.
