The terrorists did not have the capability to destroy the United States military, so they set their sights on symbolic targets instead. The World Trade Center symbolized America's economic power and prosperity, the Pentagon symbolized America's military power, and the U. S. Capital symbolized the center of America's government. Though the pain and injustice of that day cannot be reversed, the dead, those who came to aid and rescue, those who survived, and the love and compassion shown on 9/11, in the days that followed, and still today are remembered, with the September 11 Memorial Walkway of Southern Illinois standing as a symbol that this will never be forgotten.