Clouds of Melancholy…
For the past several days I’ve had a big black cloud hovering over me and I couldn’t figure out why… I finally figured out why – 9 / 11
It was 7 years ago that morning I had an early meeting in Georgetown and on the way home passed by the Pentagon before the plane hit. I was home when the second plane hit the twin towers and watched the horrid event on the TV. It was just a while later that the combination of the sound and shaking from the Pentagon hit rushed down I395 and rattled the very building that I was in.
There was little connection over the years until the summer of 2007, when a friend of mine’s mother visited and we toured Arlington National Cemetery. She had a keen interest in the 9/11 Pentagon memorial. We headed there after our visit to the Tomb of the Unknowns to watch the changing of the guard (The OLD GUARD – 3d Infantry Regiment of the US ARMY does such a outstanding job!) Among those who were laid to rest in that area (Section 64)
Among them are 64 of the 184 people killed when American Airlines Flight 77 struck the Pentagon. Most of them (50) lie together, near the simple granite marker bearing all 184 names. (The others are in various locations throughout the cemetery.) The Pentagon itself can be discerned through nearby trees. Inside the Pentagon chapel shine new stained glass windows made by survivors of the attack. When I toured the Pentagon with TOGA (The Old Guard Association) in 2006, it was a very unusual feeling when we entered the chapel area. To me it seemed like those who perished there were still among us. May they rest in peace…
“The heroes that sleep in these hills” will always be remembered.
Tags: 3d Infantry Regiment, 9/11 Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery, Pentagon, The Old Guard, The Old Guard Association, US Army, Washington DC
