Pentagon Memorial Dedicated to Honor 9/11 Heroes

President Bush helped dedicate a memorial to 9/11 victims at the Pentagon today in a solemn ceremony to honor the 184 who died.

The text of his remarks can be found here:

For the families and friends of the fallen, this memorial will be a place of remembrance. Parents will come here to remember children who boarded Flight 77 for a field trip and never emerged from the wreckage. Husbands and wives will come here to remember spouses who left for work one morning and never returned home. People from across our nation will come here to remember friends and loved ones who never had the chance to say goodbye.

A memorial can never replace what those of you mourning a loved one have lost. We pray that you will find some comfort amid the peace of these grounds. We pray that you will find strength in knowing that our nation will always grieve with you.

Voice of America describes the memorial:

The memorial's focus is 184 benches built over a pool of water - 59 of the benches face the Pentagon representing the passengers killed on American Airlines Flight 77. The remaining 125 benches face the opposite direction memorializing those killed within the building. Each is engraved with the name of one of the people killed that day at the Pentagon.

Private contributions of $21 million funded the project.

The memorial's design was chosen through an international competition won by Keith Kaseman and his wife Julie Beckman.

"We wanted it to be like no other simply because that day was like no other," Kaseman said. "It should be both individual and collective in nature, and ultimately it should be imbedded with enough hints and clues that begin to tell the story of the people who lost their lives. And make you think -- but not prescribe how to think or what to feel."

The memorial will open to the public at 7 p.m. Eastern today.