Even though I live in the proximity, the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial is the last of the three major 9/11 Memorials I have visited (I blogged about the NY Memorial and the Shanksville, PA. Memorial). It´s like this with many other sights and attractions that are close by: Why go today when I can do it tomorrow? Anyhow, with this visit I had the feeling that the last part of the loop came into place. When 9/11 happened we were in Berlin and I happened to see the events live on tv by chance. I had a minimized tv screen in the corner of my computer monitor at work. The news was on as I was working along, once in a while peeking and waiting for a report on a completely different subject (that I absolutely cannot remember). First images of a smoking tower, speculations about an accident with a small private plane. Bit for bit the drama unfolded until the vastness of the scheme became clear. Soon after, the German Interior Minister approved additional positions on the federal level for anti terror measures. All of a sudden the Foreign Office almost had more positions in Embassies and Consulates than it had human resources. New vacant postings were announced all over the world, but the response was slow. This is how we cut short our time in Berlin to take a posting in Ghana. We liked Berlin and had planned for a longer home-cycle, but in the end the temptation was too big. So, in the aftermath of 9/11 we are still in foreign lands and on our third four-year posting in a row. Our time here is coming to an end and this year we will return home.

There are 184 benches representing those killed aboard the plane and in the Pentagon. They are arranged according to the victim´s ages. The ones facing the Pentagon represent the 125 victims that died in the building, the ones facing the sky and the flight path are dedicated to the 59 victims on the plane.

Looking at the Pentagon in the angle of the flight path, facing the impact area.

Facing the opposite direction. The trident structure in the background is the Air Force Memorial.

See more images of the Memorial here