When the design for the National September 11 Memorial was unveiled in 2004, Mary Kay Linge, then a skeptic, found it "depressing." The chosen design, "Reflecting Absence," by Michael Arad, featured minimalist black stone squares with pools of water, a concept that struck many, including Linge and The Post's Steve Cuozzo, as "funereal" and "grim." Cuozzo described it as making "victimization… a defining theme of American life."
Linge, who was not directly affected by the attacks in the sense of losing close family or friends, found the memorial's somber aesthetic to be an inadequate response to the profound loss and heroism associated with 9/11. She recalled the bravery of individuals like Rick Rescorla, Betty Ong, and Orio Palmer, as well as the passengers of United Flight 93, and the American troops fighting abroad. "A pair of dank holes in a barren plaza was the best we could do? It was an outrage," she wrote.
Initially, Linge refused to visit the memorial when it opened in 2011 and actively avoided the site for years. However, she eventually decided to visit and found her initial perceptions were mistaken. She discovered that the falling water created an "enveloping white noise" that drowned out city sounds, and the dark parapets evoked the scale of the original towers.
She was particularly moved by the names of the 2,983 victims, which are inscribed on bronze panels. Linge noted that these names are not starkly etched but delicately traced, allowing for tributes like flowers and flags. The memorial is illuminated by golden light in the evening. "And the names — oh, the names: 2,983 of them," she wrote.
During her visit, Linge encountered stories of victims that resonated with her. She found the name of Thomas Hobbs, a Mets fan whose daughter honored him by continuing his support of the team. She also read the name Deanna Galante, a 32-year-old executive assistant whose inscription read "and her unborn child" – a phrase repeated 11 times on the memorial panels, marking the loss of pregnant victims.
Linge also noted the story of FDNY Lieutenant Kevin Dowdell of Rescue 4, whose body was never recovered but whose personalized pry bar survived. She mentioned Mary Lenz Wieman, a marketing executive with a passion for carousels, and Gary Herold, who guided colleagues out of the South Tower before returning to search for others. The memorial also honors the twelve members of Staten Island's Rescue 5 who responded to the towers, eleven of whom did not return.
Despite finding the memorial a place for "reverent experience," Linge expressed dismay at visitors engaging in "selfie brigades" in such a solemn place. She encourages visitors to move beyond treating the memorial as a tourist checklist. "Learn one name, just one, and do a little homework," she advised. "Seek out that name (an online directory makes it easy), touch it, trace it. Reflect on that person’s story."
Linge concluded that the memorial is not solely about terrorism or mourning, but about celebrating life and the core American principle that every individual life is precious and deserves remembrance. "That every innocent life lost that day deserves to be known and remembered. That each name matters."