Memorial Project Superintendent Joanne Hanley's response to 6/08 email campaign that demanded to know WHO is being depicted as breaking the circle and turning it into a giant crescent. (The only possible answer is the terrorists, because the circle is a symbol of peace, and the passengers and crew cannot be included amongst those who broke the peace.)

Hanley refuses to address the question of  who broke the circle. She mentions the question, then heads off in another direction and does not answer it.

From: Joanne_Hanley@nps.gov <Joanne_Hanley@nps.gov>
Subject: Re: WHO broke the circle?
To: _____________________
Date: Tuesday, June 24, 2008, 6:54 PM

Dear _________________:

Thank you for your e mail of June 23, 2008, in which you expressed concerns

that the Flight 93 National Memorial somehow pays homage to Islam. .  The

National Park Service (NPS) is keenly aware of these concerns,  and took

steps in 2005 to investigate this issue. In doing so, the NPS consulted

with the Families of Flight 93, university and religious scholars, all of

whom have concluded that the memorial design does not imply or depict any

religious iconography. In light of those findings, the National Park

Service and all three of its partner organizations continue to support the

final design for the Flight 93 memorial.

You also had questions about "who broke the circle."  The natural

topography of the site upon which the memorial sits is in the shape of a

bowl, or a circle.  This "circle of embrace" follows the geography,

and

points your attention down to the Sacred Ground, the crash site where the

40 heroes of Flight 93 gave their lives combating the terrorists. The trees

surrounding this "circle of embrace" are missing, or broken, in two

places;

first, where the flight path of the plane came overhead (which is the

location of the planned memorial overlook and visitor center) and second,

where the plane crashed at the Sacred Ground (depicted by a ceremonial gate

and pathway into the Sacred Ground).

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Four organizations collaborated to organize and implement the process for

choosing a memorial design. The Families of Flight 93 is a nonprofit

organization of family members of the passengers and crew who died on the

flight. The Flight 93 Advisory Commission was created by Congress to

prepare “a report containing recommendations for the planning, design,

construction, and long-term management of a permanent memorial at the crash

site.” The Flight 93 Memorial Task Force serves as the Commission’s

operational arm and consists of approximately 80 to 90 members including

family members, community members, first responders, educators, and other

local, regional, and national stakeholders. The National Park Service is

the federal agency charged with administering Flight 93 National Memorial.

These four organizations agreed that an open design competition would be

the most inclusive, transparent and democratic way to explore a range of

designs for the memorial. The competition was open to design professionals,

as well as to the public, and was conducted in two stages with two separate

juries. The stage I jury analyzed approximately 1,000 submissions and

forwarded five finalist designs to the stage II jury. The five finalist

designs were exhibited for public comment in Somerset, Pennsylvania and on

the project website. The stage II jury, which was composed of noted design

professionals, family members and community leaders, reviewed the public

comments and evaluated the designs against the memorial’s mission

statement. By a majority, the stage II jury voted in favor of Mr. Murdoch’s

design and then, to reinforce their support of the design, took a second,

unanimous vote to support the design created by Mr. Murdoch.

After the winning design was announced, the NPS received some inquiries

from the public about what they perceived as Islamic symbolism in the

memorial design. While the architect, Mr. Murdoch, had not intended any

such symbolism in the design, he nonetheless refined certain aspects of the

design in response to the perceptions. The most prominent refinement was in

the treatment of the naturally occurring bowl-shaped landscape feature. The

design now surrounds that area with a circle of trees which is broken in

two places – the location which marks the flight path as it breaks the

circular continuity of the bowl edge, and the Sacred Ground where the crash

occurred.

Please be assured that we are all committed to having a national memorial

that conveys the full honor due to the heroes of Flight 93, not to the

terrorists.. Our priority now is to move forward with the building of the

memorial, and to continue to commemorate those heroes who lost their lives

on September 11, 2001.

Enclosed for your information are several documents, which I hope will

additionally help to clear up this issue.  You may also find more in-depth

information on the park’s web site: www.nps.gov/flni.

Please feel free to contact me if you would like further information.

Thank you for your interest in our project and for your support of the

National Park Service.

(See attached file: Attachment 2 Chart of Facts Regarding the Memorial

Design.doc)(See attached file: Brieing Paper.doc)(See attached file:

Attachment 1 Advisory Commission Letter to Rawls Letter 8.8.07.doc)(See

attached file: family letter to tomtancredo.pdf)

Joanne M. Hanley, Superintendent

Flight 93 NM, Fort Necessity NB, Friendship Hill NHS,Johnstown Flood NM and

Allegheny Portage Railroad NHS

109 West Main St. Somerset, PA 15501

office 814.443.4557

fax     814.443.2180

cell    724.322.5395

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