Public honors victims of Pentagon tragedy

WASHINGTON — A solemn marker outside the Pentagon conveys a simple message: "We will never forget."

True words, judging by the lines of people — from all corners of the country, even the globe — who took time on a sun-splashed weekend to honor the 184 people who perished when a hijacked jetliner slammed into this symbol of American military.

"We are here for a happy occasion. But we have to remember the sad occasions in our country's history also," said Pam Gambacorta of Buffalo, N.Y., who was in town for a wedding. She was one of the first in line for the walk-in tours, only the second available to the general public since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

More than 1,000 people took the tour that began outside the building, where American Airlines Flight 77 slammed into the side, and continued inside to a chapel and memorial. Reconstruction has made the impact point impossible to detect.

Ethan and Debbie Fleischman of Cincinnati made the memorial tour their first stop in Washington. While it lasted only about 15 minutes, they said they came away with lasting memories of the building and of the others who came to pay tribute.

If not for the military guides pointing to where the plane struck, few visitors would have known exactly where it hit. The rebuilt wall includes just a couple of vivid reminders of that day. The first is a stone charred by burning jet fuel that reads "September 11, 2001."

About 50 feet to the left of the stone, between the second and third floors, is where the hijacked jet struck.