9/11 Memorial

9/11 Memorial. . , On September 11, 2001 there was a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks launched by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda upon the United States in New York City and the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The attacks killed almost 3,000 people and caused at least $10 billion in property and infrastructure damage. Four passenger airliners were hijacked by 19 al-Qaeda terrorists so they could be flown into buildings in suicide attacks. Two of those planes, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, were crashed into the North and South towers, respectively, of the World Trade Center complex in New York City. Within two hours both towers collapsed with debris and the resulting fires causing partial or complete collapse of all other buildings in the WTC complex, as well as significant damage to ten other large surrounding structures. A third plane, American Airlines Flight 77, was crashed into the Pentagon (the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense), leading to a partial collapse in its western side. The fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, was targeted at Washington, D.C., but crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after its passengers tried to overcome the hijackers. In total, almost 3,000 people died in the attacks, including the 227 civilians and 19 hijackers aboard the four planes. It was also the deadliest incident for Firefighters and for Law Enforcement Officers in the history of the United States: 343 Firefighter and 72 Law Enforcement Officers were killed., This Memorial was constructed by the King of Prussia Volunteer Fire Company to memorialize the horrific events of 9/11, honor those who's lives were taken, and celebrate the courage of first responders and survivors. The intention is to embody the gift of their lives and the sacrifices of all as an expression of the American spirit. This triangular section of firehouse property was already a memorial site when the idea of a 9/11 Memorial was conceived. It was designed by Architect Charles Edwin McDonald Jr., and constructed by Homebuider [sic] Joseph J. White Jr.. Ground breaking for construction of the memorial was on April 7, 2011. The memorial was dedicated, five months later, on the tenth anniversary of the tragedy, September 11th, 2011., Hijacked Airplanes , #11 - American Airlines Flight 11 (a Boeing 767) , 92 passengers on board , Flight 11 left Boston's Logan International Airport at 7:59 AM for Los Angeles. , At 8:46 AM Flight 11 slams into the North Tower of New York's World Trade Center., #175 - United Airlines Flight 175 (a Boeing 767) , 64 passengers on board , Flight 175 left Boston's Logan International Airport at 8:14am for Los Angeles. , At 9:03 AM Flight 175 flies into the South Tower of the World Trade Center., #77 - American Airlines Flight 77 (a Boeing 757) , 64 passengers on board , Flight 77 left Washington Dulles International Airport at 8:20 a.m. for Los Angeles. , At 9:37 AM Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon., #93 - United Airlines Flight 93 (a Boeing 757) , 44 passengers on board , Flight 93 left Newark International Airport at 8:42 AM for San Francisco. , At 10:03 AM Flight 93 crashes at 10:03 [sic] in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania., Orientation of Major Features , The North/South compass orientation of all these represented buildings, are as they actually were and are. If you align the center of the 9/11 Monument approximately with the flag pole, that alignment is the North/South direction. The Monument being north of the flagpole; the southern point of the Pentagon pointing due south. The North #1 Tower, north of the South #2 Tower and similarly on the Plaza Patio., Scale of Major Features , In order to represent the buildings, they had to be scaled down, and in a meaningful way. This need converged with a desire to incorporate the yearly observance cycle of the events of 9/11 into the design., The sizes of the actual buildings, the site limitations, and the selected materials and dimensions of the received World Trade Center Beam Sections allowed all of these conditions to exist together. A calendar year is expressed in terms of 52 weeks. Therefore, the Stainless Steel Towers of the Monument as well as the World Trade Center Site Plan Patio in pavers, are exactly 1/52nd scale or 52 times smaller than they actually were., Given it's immense size, an additional reduction in scale was required for the Pentagon: In fact, exactly twice as small. The footprint and height of the Pentagon Base are at 1/104th scale or 104 times smaller than the actual Pentagon building., The World Trade Center Patio , 1 - One World Trade Center , 2 - Two World Trade Center , 3 - Marriott Hotel , 4 - Four World Trade Center , 5 - Five World Trade Center , 6 - Six World Trade Center , 7 - Seven World Trade Center , 8 - The point located on the site that is radiated from the center of the 9/11 Monument on the South side of the divergent center line. See the Site's Boundaries., The 9/11 Memorial , 1 - Upon and within the circular base sits a dual-sloped, pyramidal pentagon of granite representing the Pentagon and Flight 77. , 2 - Rising up out of the pentagon are the tops of the World Trade Towers in Stainless Steel which serve as the base for each of the 2 actual World Trade Center Beam Sections. These towers are represented in a very literal way to pay special homage systematically to those first victims on the [?], at the site, and trapped above the impact floors at the top of the buildings, where the majority of lives lost were located. , 3 - The circular concrete base and paved walkway are symbolic of the lack of anything but a roughly circular hole in the ground at the crash site of Flight 93 in Shanksville. , 4 - The circular First Responders Walkway around the 9/11 Monument encloses an area of 343 square feet, symbolic of the 343 firefighters who gave their lives on 9/11 that others might be spared. , 5 - The circular concrete base that the granite pentagon sits on has a circumference of 47 feet, again, the station number of the King of Prussia Volunteer Fire Company. , 6 - The 1/104 scaled Pentagon footprint fits exactly within and upon the circular base. , 7 - The approximately 8 inch vertical sides of the pentagon base are exactly proportioned to the footprint representing the 73 foot height of the actual Pentagon building. , 8 - The size of the open courtyard at the center of the pentagon is marked by the lines created where the bottom slope and top slope of the pentagon meet. , 9- The World Trade Tower beam sections are both approximately 33" x 12" 5'-0" long weighing about 650 pounds each. The studs you see are 3/4" diameter x 3" long with 1 1/4" diameter heads. , 10 - The beam sections have been mounted atop each tower to correlate with the orientation of the elevator cores of each building. , 11 - In the tops of the towers 40 lights are mounted flush in the stainless and structural steel beneath, symbolic of the 40 passengers and crew of Shanksvilles' [sic] Flight 93, the first Americans to take offensive action in response to the events of 9/11, saving countless others at whatever it's target was to have been. 20 points of light per tower, arranged in a circle, to illuminate the beam sections and draw our eyes and hearts toward the heavens! , 12 - The jewel at the center of the pentagon is a shallow pyramidal pentagon of glass, encasing and illuminating a folded American flag which was flown March 2, 2011 at 16:00 hrs on Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan at the 131st Transportation Company Motorpool / 17th CSSB., The Site's Boundaries , 13 - Centered on the 9/11 Monument is a circle with a 33 foot radius and 208 foot circumference. The North and South World Trade Center Towers both had a footprint of one square acre which equals 208 feet on each side. , The Circle encloses an area of 3,430 sq. ft. which allows for 10 sq. ft. for each of the 343 firefighters who gave their lives saving others on 9/11. , 14 - A second 33 foot radius circle centered at the top of the staircase fully encompasses all four site features and creates the arc at the edge of the entry ramp., The Site's Angles , 15 - The lines which define the sides of the wedge shaped entry path are set at 13 degrees on either side of the divergent centerline symbolic of the 13 stripes on either side of the American Flag! , 16 - The two radiating lines from the center of the Monument mark the Center of the Patio and the Gazebo, and are set at 47 degrees apart at equal angles on either side of the central line of the entrance path. These lines are also marked by the ends of the low return walls and railings at the top and bottom of the stair. This 47 degrees represents the KPVFC Station Number 47. , 17. The triangular section of the Firehouse property that was already a memorial site when the idea of a 9/11 Memorial was conceived. , 18. The 3 degree North divergences of the line bisecting the site, becomes the centerline of the stair and entrance pathway from the parking area. It also represents the countless 3 minutes of silence, now traditionally observed here, and around the world, on 9/11., The 47 degree arrangement symbolic of the KPVFC station number and the 13 degree entrance symbolic of the flag, are together meant to represent the firehouse embracing the flag., [Center Aerial Diagram], Flight Paths , 1 - If you stand at the center of the Plaza Patio and look toward the center of the 9/11 Monument, that line of sight marks the point of impact of Flight 11 on the far side of the North Tower; and the point of impact of Flight 175 on this side of the South Tower., 2 - If you stand at the center of the Memorial Gazebo and look towards the center of the 9/11 Monument, that line of sight marks the point of impact of Flight 77 on the far (West) face of the Pentagon. Continuing that line Westward traces the approximate flight bearing of Flight 93, before it crashed into afield in Shanksville, PA., The Survivor Tree (Callery Pear) , The bearing of the line from the far corner of the site to the center of the 9/11 Monument is marked with three trees., The Tree closest to the 9/11 Memorial, is a Callery Pear. It is the same kind of tree as the "Survivor Tree" that was pulled from Ground Zero, nursed back to life, and now replanted at the New World Trade Center Memorial in New York., The William C. Daywalt Sr. Memorial Gazebo , When Lieutenant Vince DiSanto proposed the idea of a 9/11 Memorial, the property was already a memorial site. The Memorial Gazebo honoring William C. Daywalt Sr. originally sat for four years at the present location of the 9/11 Monument. Although it has been relocated, it continues to serve as a key feature as a place within the site to sit and reflect. To recognize it's importance and honor the original location of the Memorial Gazebo, the center of the 9/11 Monument was placed at the exact center where the Gazebo stood. The design of the rest of the site emanates from that point.