More than 1,600 will compete to design Pentagon memorial

WASHINGTON -- The sight gnaws at Jim Lachak: A flawless limestone facade on the west wall of the Pentagon that bears no sign it was struck by a hijacked airliner almost a year ago, killing his brother Dave and so many others.

Something, Lachak believes, should mark that spot.

"I didn't like the fact that they rebuilt it so quickly and they wanted the facade to look exactly the same," says Lachak, 43. "I'm afraid that 10, 15 years from now, people are going to be driving by and can't remember what side it was."

Lachak and relatives of those who died from the Sept. 11 attack are making suggestions to the Army Corps of Engineers about a memorial. Some 1,600 people already have met Friday's deadline to register. Proposals must be submitted by Sept. 11, with a winner announced on Dec. 23.

"We challenge you to create a memorial that translate this terrible tragedy into a place of solace, peace and healing," families of the victims said in a statement to entrants.

"Visitors should comprehend that our lived ones were murdered simply because they were living and working in, and enjoying the benefits of, a free society," they wrote. "The memorial should instill the ideas that patriotism is a moral duty, that freedom comes at a price, and that the victims of this attack have paid the ultimate price."

Under the Corps plan, the winning design will occupy nearly two acres about 165 feet west of the point where American Airlines Flight 77 slammed into the facade. The attack killed 189 people -- 125 in the Pentagon and 64 aboard the plane -- and injured 110 at the Defense Department headquarters. Remains of the five hijackers on the flight have been separated from those of the victims.

The winning design cannot exceed a rise of 78 feet -- the Pentagon's height -- and it cannot interfere with the flight path to Reagan Washington National Airport.

Reflecting the global effect of the attacks, registrations have come from all 50 states except South Dakota, as well as from Europe, Asia, Africa Australia and South America, organizers say.

In New York, the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. is soliciting new designs for the World Trade Center site, where 2,819 people were killed.