An incredibly ill-conceived “gesture of healing and bonding.” From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, with thanks to Charles.
WASHINGTON — It will serve as a living tribute. With each wind, each breeze, a set of chimes housed in a 93-foot tower will create a different song in memory of the 40 people who sacrificed their lives trying to save the lives of others.
Four years after United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into a reclaimed strip mine near Shanksville, Somerset County, on Sept. 11, 2001, the design that will serve as the national memorial was unveiled here yesterday in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Hall of Flags.
“Crescent of Embrace” will feature a Tower of Voices, containing 40 wind chimes — one for each passenger and crew member who died — and two stands of red maple trees that will line a walkway caressing the natural bowl shape of the land. Forty separate groves of red and sugar maples will be planted behind the crescent, and a black slate wall will mark the edge of the crash site, where the remains of those who died now rest.
As the black cloak that had hidden the winner was removed, a collective gasp came from those gathered, who then rose to their feet to applaud…
The winning designers, Paul and Milena Murdoch of Los Angeles, called being selected “an incredible honor.”…
The idea of the Crescent of Embrace, Murdoch said, is to be a gesture of healing and bonding. The crescent marks the edge of the land, which will remain largely untouched…