9/11 Memorial

I’ve been home for over a week now so I better get the rest of my pictures posted of our trip.  I left off with our traipsing along Fifth Avenue, which was fun.  The goal of that day was to visit the new 9/11 Memorial.  It is free to visit, but you do have to get tickets. They only allow so many through at a time.  There is a lot of construction still taking place…on the Freedom Tower, the museum that will open and surrounding businesses.  We had to go through security and wander through a line.  This was hanging in that area.

This is the Freedom Tower, still under construction.  When it is completed in 2015, it will be the tallest building in the United States, 1,776 feet high, 104 stories.

The Memorial is two reflecting pools, each nearly an acre in size that sit within the footprints of where the Twin Towers stood. The largest manmade waterfalls in North America flow around their sides.

Bronze panels run along the outside edge of the pools.  Engraved on them are the names of those who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001…nearly 3,000 people.It includes those who died at the World Trade Center, United’s flight 93 that went down near Shanksville, Pa., the Pentagon, and the six people who were killed in the World Trade Center bombing in February 1993.

Todd Beamer was on the airplane that went down in  Pennsylavania.  His words “Let’s Roll” were heard over a cell phone conversation with his wife.

Jason Dahl was the pilot of that flight.  He was from here in the Denver area.

I saw this repeated several times…and her unborn child. 

I like the reflection of the buildings in the bronze.  The names were engraved open so that the lights would shine through them.  We were there late enough in the day that they were turning on the lights in the pools.  It was beautiful.

This is the Survivor Tree.  It is a pear tree that was planted at the original World Trade Center.  It was found in October 2001 after the attacks.  It was dug up and replanted here.