The public memorial commemorating the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon was open to public in 2008, 6 years after the plan to build a memorial was approved by the congress in 2002. It was designed not only to remember the 184 victims but also to give meaning to what the 9/11 was and has been to Americans. This dual objectives of the memorial is nothing new, but there is a need to question what meaning is projected and how the memorial commemorates the event in history, given the fact that it is impossible for any memorial or monument to deliver a holistic picture of the history itself. The narrative that the Pentagon Memorial reflects is clear: the US citizens and the government alike have a heavy duty to solemnly remember the victims who died so “that we may live in freedom.” To visitors, there seems to be little room to counterargue; the untimely and tragic death of people, especially of babies whose memorial units are the first ones visitors get to see, provides a necessary, or even demanding, reason to build the memorial. This narrative of the 9/11 attacks is of the same kind that people have continuously been told – from the news reporters, government officials, neighbors, and friends. The representation of 9/11 attacks was done in such a way that was closely linked to American-ness, if not patriotism, that questioning such narrative was considered heretical, if not treacherous. The champions of this official narrative were the incumbent officials during the Bush administration: including the president Bush himself as well as former Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld. It was not rare to hear them talking about external threats encroaching the United States, which is the ultimate defender of freedom.
However, there are still questions unanswered, which are reflected on a different version of account for the 9/11 attacks. Families of victims, some government officials, scholars and civil societies have continuously demanded that the true story be told – including whether the government was aware about the possibility of such attacks, for one thing, which the official narrative does not even mention at all.
The Pentagon Memorial itself does not explicitly say on the controversy surrounding the terrorist attacks. The designers of the memorial, Julie Beckman and Keith Kaseman, intended to create a memorial that does not tell people what to remember. Although the memorial has an abstract representation, it is closer to the official narrative of the 9/11 attacks. First of all, the memorial has a very solemn atmosphere. Its location – right on the site where the plane (American Airline 77) crashed into the Pentagon – has a very powerful message to visitors. The way the 184 memorial units are organized also plays an important role; they are lined up by the years in which each victim was born, from the youngest to the oldest. By putting the youngest victims on the front, the memorial delivers the horror and the sorrow of the event more clearly. The second reason why the official narrative – much more so than another one – is reflected on the memorial, is more apparent. At the entrance of the memorial, there is an inscription which reads: 
We claim this ground in remembrance of the events of September 11, 2001. To honor the 184 people whose lives were lost, their families, and all who sacrifice that we may live in freedom.
We will never forget.
The construction process of the memorial shows that public involvement does not always guarantee a better way of commemorating the past. It is because no matter how open and transparent the process can be, the government continues to remain as the key designer of the whole process, deciding what designs submitted to the public contest fits the best into the interest of the government as well as guiding the general direction. From the planning to the official dedication, the government - at least the Department of Defense - remained involved. It is no coincidence that the official narrative of the 9/11 is reflected on the Pentagon Memorial; it was meant to deliver the message that is in tune with that narrative.
Link to the original paper
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B63j8Blf3zwON2VmNjM0YzgtM2M4MC00MTJkLWIxY2EtMTkzNDhjYWNjNzNj&hl=en&authkey=COq6sYUD
External Sources
- Virtual Memorial (Washington Post) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/interactives/pentagonmemorial/victims/
- Pentagon Memorial Fund http://www.pentagonmemorial.net/default.aspx
- Organization run by families of victims
- Video on the memorial
- Detailed information on the attack as well as on the individual victims
