Dear Friends of the Pentagon Memorial
Fund,
Let’s get
right to the big news. On June 15 we will break ground for the Pentagon
Memorial. The ceremony will take place at the Pentagon, on the site of the
future Memorial. Yes, after more than four years of planning and fundraising,
we are only weeks away from this very important milestone.
In this
newsletter a few months ago, Rosemary Dillard,
who lost her husband, Eddie, in the Pentagon attack, shared her thoughts about
the Pentagon Memorial. “I live to make sure this memorial is built,” she said
then. “I live to see them lift that first shovelful of earth from the ground.”
For
Rosemary and for all of us who have worked hard for the Pentagon Memorial, June
15 marks a milestone in bringing to reality that place which we hope will be one
of remembrance, reflection, and renewal. June 15 will be a day to cherish.
And it will be a day of commitment, a day in which all of us—builders,
designers, donors, families, fundraisers, and Pentagon employees—resolve to
finish the task.
Commitment is
what has brought us this far. I want to make sure that the world does not
forget my younger brother, David, and the other 183 people who died at the
Pentagon on September 11, 2001—59 passengers and crewmembers aboard American
Airlines Flight 77 and 125 service members and civilians working in the Pentagon
that morning.
David had
moved his family from Arizona to Manassas, Virginia, only about eight months before
tragedy struck. He left behind his wife and two young children. His loss is
something that will always be a part of their lives and of mine.
The
groundbreaking this June binds us to a course of action. It serves to renew our
commitment to build a place where we can honor the sense of loss that we feel,
and where we can come away with a feeling of hope.
Of course
there is still much to do. If we meet fundraising goals and construction
schedules, the Memorial should be finished by the fall of 2008. While we have
received more than $10 million, it’s estimated that the Memorial will cost $22
million to build and an additional $10 million to create an endowment to
maintain it forever. The Pentagon Memorial Fund still needs our continued
support—and yours.
So we will
gather at the Pentagon on June 15 to recognize a very important milestone. And
on June 16 let us start again, with a steadfast fixity of purpose, to work
toward the Memorial’s completion.
