Decision ‘08

An Appalling Lack of Sensitivity

Flight 93, you may recall, crashed near Shanksville, PA on 9/11, on its way towards a suicide run into Congress. You may also recall that the hijackers of the plane were radical Islamic terrorists. Naturally, then, the memorial for Flight 93 is in the shape of…an Islamic crescent.

See for yourself, here…

10 Responses to “An Appalling Lack of Sensitivity”

1 The Politburo Diktat Says:
September 10th, 2005 at 6:59 pm
Flight 93 Crescent Memorial

The proposed design for a memorial to Flight 93 in Shanksville is a “Crescent of Embrace,” formed by Red Maple trees around the impact site.

Captain Ed: Flight 93 Memorial Intended To Offend, suggests an analogous device at Pearl Harbor…
2 fatman Says:
September 10th, 2005 at 7:46 pm
Mark, I’m torn on this one. On the one hand, I think you’re right; it IS a slap in the face, not only to those on Flight 93, but to everyone who died that day, except the hijackers of course.

On the other hand, it’s more a half-circle than a crescent, and at least some of the families of the Flight 93 heroes don’t seem to have a problem with it, so…

I do think there will be a firestorm over this.
3 too many steves Says:
September 10th, 2005 at 8:18 pm
Politically correct and disgusting. I’d feel better if they added a hedgerow that spelled out “Let’s Roll” when you looked at it from the air.

I worked with and knew Todd Beamer. I was in Rome with him the week prior to 9/11. He’s a hero and deserves better; and so does Lisa and all the other family members of the people on that flight.

Cotton-headed liberal nitwits design crap like that.
4 Mark Says:
September 10th, 2005 at 8:56 pm
I find this truly bizarre, and somewhat astonishing…surely, SURELY, some other shape could have formed the basis for the memorial…
5 Jojo Says:
September 11th, 2005 at 6:00 am
I think you’re manufacturing this issue, to be honest. There is no problem here. Most people don’t associate the crescent with Islam in the same way the cross is associated with Christianity, or the Star of David is associated with with Judaism. It’s a crescent. Get over yourself, not everything is a liberal conspiracy.
6 Mark Says:
September 11th, 2005 at 8:07 am
Hmmm…of all the shapes in the world, a crescent is chosen to memorialize the victims of Islamic terrorism, and you say get over myself?…Hmmm, again…
7 Gulf Coast Bandit Says:
September 11th, 2005 at 8:04 pm
I agree with too many steves. I would like the design with more trees that say “Let’s roll.” But, here’s a soul-searching question for us: if they had taken the jury’s advice, and changed the name to something like “Arc of Embrace,” would there still be such a big fuss about it?
8 Mark Says:
September 11th, 2005 at 10:49 pm
Gulf Coast Bandit, it’s a good question. Jojo, I don’t think it’s a liberal conspiracy; I think it’s unintentionally in poor taste, lovely though the design may be…not this shape, this place…
9 Dennis Says:
September 12th, 2005 at 12:57 am
I agree that it seems unintentional. If anything, it seems like yet another ripoff of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington. Brilliant as that was, it’s spawned a lot of “let’s put up a slab” imitators. Arcing it in a crescent was probably just a way of looking a little different.

But a new design probably should be put forth. There’s just too much room for bad feelings here to take chances like this.
10 utron Says:
September 12th, 2005 at 11:00 am
I’m awfully late to this discussion, but here are a few points to think about:

1) The problem isn’t unintentional use of symbolism, something architects are highly sensitive to. As Gulf Coast Bandit notes, the second-stage jury recommended changing the name precisely because they anticipated the design would be criticized for Islamic associations. As to a lack of association between Islam and the crescent, I would respectfully suggest that Jojo needs to get over his ignorance on this issue. He could start with this comment from Fouad el Bayly, lead of the Islamic Center of Johnstown, PA, who said that Muslims would immediately recognize the symbolism in the design and said, “You pick something to be identified with.” Link here:

http://www.tribune-democrat.com/local/local_story_253002557.html

2) According to the qibla, used by devout Muslims to orient their prayers to Mecca, a line passing through the midpoint between the two horns of the memorial’s crescent and through the crescent’s thickest part points directly to Mecca. This sounds too ridiculous to be true, but the explanation can be found here:

http://bluemerle.blogspot.com/2005/09/biting-on-tin-foil_10.html

3) I don’t really believe that any of this is inadvertent or unintentional, but the point is moot. Certainly the controversy has shown that this is terrible, inappropriate symbolism that detracts from the whole purpose of the project: memorializing the heroism of the passengers on Flight 93. This design needs to be scrapped and replaced by something different. From a different architect.