Senior DOD leaders and members of Congress, President Bush’s cabinet, and families of Pentagon employees gathered on June 15 for a groundbreaking ceremony, marking the start of construction for the Pentagon Memorial to commemorate the crash of American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. “Today we claim this ground for them, for their families, and for the brave servicemen and women who have volunteered to go out to meet our nation’s enemies,” Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said of the victims during his remarks. The memorial will be completed in 2008 and will cover a two acre site with 184 illuminated benches that will represent each of the people killed during the attack.
The Space Development Agency says it’s on track to issue its next batch of missile warning and tracking satellite contracts this month after those awards were delayed by the Pentagon’s decision to divert funds from the agency to pay troops during this fall’s prolonged government shutdown.
