Several ceremonies took place along the Grand Strand on the nine year anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks. The morning began with bag pipes, solemn faces, and so many stories.
"After the first plane hit, I responded right away, so I was pretty much there the whole day," says Sgt. Robert Clark with the New York City Police Department.
He attended an event this morning in Myrtle Beach, sponsored by the Carolina Coastal Shields, a group of current and retired law enforcement. Clark adds, "It's good to see that 9 years later this country is still coming together to pay their respects to that day." Time heals the shock perhaps, but not necessarily the pain. "No, it never gets easier because you never forget. You always remember your brothers that lost their lives that day. It could have been you," says Henry Betts a first responder on 9/11.
Twenty miles south, in Murrells Inlet there was another gathering. The local woodmen of the world chapter raised money to dedicate this flagpole, flag, and plaque. "It's called in honor and in remembrance. and it's not only those people who died, but our heroes at home who fight for us, those heroes who protect us," says Julie Brannock with Woodmen of the World
Also in the inlet, an annual event at the dead dog saloon with by the far the biggest crowd. Among them Phil Dagato, who had retired just three months before 9/11.He was still living in the area at the time, "on the morning of 9/11, watching tv, it just destroyed me. Four days later I went over to help out, and that was the last time I wore this helmet."
A grown man, on a harley, usually not one for tears, but ask about 9/11, and you see them begin to well. "343 of my brothers died, and that'll stick with me until i'm in the ground," adds Degato. More than 3,000 altogether died that day, but their memories seem as strong today as they did 9 years ago.
