The Pentagon, headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia; a symbol of the United States’ military. Designed by American architect George Bergstrom and built by general contractor John McShain of Philadelphia; ground was broken for construction on 11 September 1941 and the building dedicated on 15 January 1943.
It is the world’s largest office building, with about 6,500,000 sq ft (600,000 m2) of space, of which 3,700,000 sq ft (340,000 m2) are used as offices – similar to One World Trade Center – and the workplace of some 26,000 military and civilian personnel.
Sixty years later, Al Qaeda terrorists attacked the United States and American Flight 77 was hijacked and flown into the western side of the building. 189 individuals lost their lives (5 terrorists and 59 passengers on the aircraft and 125 victims in the building. It was the first foreign attack on Washington since The British burned the city in 1812.
At the time The Pentagon was undergoing renovation (a project started in 1998) which, beneficially, reduced the consequences of the aircraft’s impact. The airliner struck the heliport facade; which had been reinforced as part of the work, drawing upon lessons learned from the Oklahoma City Bombing in April 1995; and blast-resistant windows and a sprinkler system had been installed. Moreover, only 800 of the 4,500 people who would normally occupy that part of the premises were there due to the on-going work.
“Project Phoenix” ensued with the contractors being charged to re-build the damaged sections and have them occupied by 11 September 2002. These works included a small chapel and a memorial for the victims.
On the fifth anniversary of the September attacks, a memorial of 184 beams of light shone up from the centre courtyard of the Pentagon, one light for each victim. Additionally, an American flag is hung each year on the damaged side and the building is illuminated at night with blue lights
