The GMC Team remembers 9/11 and talks about the annual ceremony

The First Responders Memorial Ceremony is scheduled for 5:00 PM on Tuesday

COLUMBIA SC (WOLO)–It is truly hard to believe it has been 17 years since that near perfect day – a day with warm temperatures and bright blue skies.  At 8:46 AM, the blue was replaced with black smoke as Flight 11 flew into Tower Two, followed by Flight 175 at 9:03.  It was a little over an hour later that the towers, that stood for the greatness of America were no longer, taking with them nearly 3,000 lives.

The attack wasn’t over in New York, as Flight 93 struck the Pentagon, and Flight 77, which is speculated to have had the White House as a target, crashed in Pennsylvania.

Fast forwarding 10 years, in 2011, a group of community members joined together to create a memorial, not only to remember the attacks, but also honor First Reponders and Service Members from the Midlands, who have paid the ultimate price serving their Country and Communities.

The Memorial, located at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center, includes two twenty-five foot granite towers, which bear the names of the Midlands Heroes, as well as a pair of beam from Tower One of the World Trade Center, given to the Memorial by the City of New York.

Each year since September 11, 2011, a ceremony is held at the Memorial, which includes comments from the Blue Star Mothers, Military and First Responder leaders, as well as an Honor Guard who salute each hero.

The event is free and open to the public, starting with a choir at 4:30 PM and the ceremony starting at 5:00 PM, emceed by ABC Columbia’s Tyler Ryan.

You can learn more about the Memorial and the ceremony HERE.