National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial

Incredibly impactful memorial. I really wanted to go here, I vividly remember 9/11 and the people from my town that worked at the Pentagon that day. I had four main concerns here - 1/Where do I enter? 2/ Do I need to go through security/have a visitor's pass? 3/ Where do I park? 4/ How do I get over to the Pentagon from south of I-395 where most of the parking is? Here's what you need to know - you do NOT have to go through security to get to it. You can park at the lot across from Harris Teeter, at least on weekends, on Army-Navy Drive. There is a pedestrian tunnel to take visitors from the parking lot to the Pentagon's Rotary Road parking lot. From there you just walk to the fence on the north side of the Rotary Road lot, then bend left. At the west end of the Pentagon Reservation there's a two-way vehicle entrance gate with a guard booth between the two lanes. LEFT of that vehicle gate is the memorial entrance, just a simple pedestrian gate. The Pentagon's secure perimeter EXCLUDES the memorial - i.e., the fence bends at the vehicle gate and bubbles around to the north before coming back to a vehicle inspection shed alongside Washington Blvd. That "bubble" is the publicly accessible memorial space. Note: You can take photos at the memorial, while in the memorial. You cannot take photos anywhere else. No gate, no parking lot, no long shot of the building, etc. Read up on the memorial's symbolism when you get there. The heights of the interior wall are birth years, and the diagonal lines of benches include every victim of the attack that was born that year. Benches facing the Pentagon are plane passengers, benches facing away are Pentagon workers. Each bench has a victim's name on it. Anyone from their family that they were flying with is engraved in the water trough underneath. Very sobering. The angle of the lines is the approach angle. The area of impact is right in front of the parking lot north of the memorial, so when you're there and look at the building, the center of the west facade is the impacted part. Very sad.

Beautiful, thoughtful memorial. Volunteers were there to provide more detailed information and point out all the special tributes to all victims both on the plane and in the Pentagon. I walked away feeling a deeper understanding of each life's sacrifice. There was also an audio tour available that I started but didn't finish because of the great volunteers at the site. Parking was free but wasn't really clear where visitors were to park. Very close by is also the Air Force Memorial. If you are at Arlington cemetery, you should add these two sites to your plans. Very worth the visit

Sure it may not be as famous as the memorial in New York, but 184 people lost their lives that day here and as such, they should be given the same amount of respect and remembrance.

Very sobering, 184 lives lost here on that September day. The memorial is laid out by rows of the year born and each individuals name on a bench design. Old and young alike, entire families. Don’t know what kind of trees, but definitely different and unique looking.

The Pentagon Memorial is such a powerful place to visit with kids. It’s peaceful, yet it carries the deep sadness of the 9/11 tragedy that forever changed our country. Walking through it gives you a chance to share with your children not only the history of that terrible day, but also the strength, unity, and resilience that followed. It’s a moving experience that leaves a lasting impression.