Myrtle Beach holds annual 9/11 remembrance ceremony at Warbird Park

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — In honor of those who lost their lives in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the city of Myrtle Beach held its annual remembrance ceremony.

The ceremony started at 10 a.m. around the 9/11 Memorial at Warbird Park in The Market Common.

The memorial is a steal beam from the North Tower of the World Trade Center and was donated to the community.

During the ceremony, wreaths honoring civilians, military, fire and police were placed around it. The ceremony started with a prayer, the presentation of colors and the national anthem.

Mayor Brenda Bethune spoke along with Dan Tompkins, a retired New York firefighter, and Karen Normile, a retired New York police officer. Both officials served at the time of the attacks.

Tompkins said his department lost 343 heroes on that day. He said about 370 members of the department have died since then due to the World Trade Center illnesses, and the number is still growing.

“It’s through the support of our communities and memorial services, like this one, is where we find some comfort and strength,” Tompkins said. “We, as a country, need these ceremonies to continue, long after the last member who operated the World Trade Center site has passed on.”

In closing, Tompkins read a homily passage from one of their chaplin’s at the department, reading, “Keep supporting each other, be kind to each other, love each other.”

Normile said she carries the memories and emotions of that day.

“That day, I saw things no one should have ever seen,” she said. “People jumping from the towers, the buildings collapsing into themselves, smoke so thick and suffocating, and the hours and days that followed I worked at ground zero.”

Normile said after the attacks, her job consisted of assisting with morgue visits to identify body parts as well as helping track the missing and dead.

She said the scars from that day are not just physical, but emotional, and every health issue she faces now is from the World Trade Center.

“Amid the chaos and despair, one thought dominated my mind were my three daughters — Sophia, Vanessa, and Victoria,” Normile said. “At the time, they were 7, 4 and 16 months old. Would I ever see them again? The fear of leaving them without a mother was overwhelming, but it also gave me the strength to keep going.”

Normile said everyone was united that day under one purpose, to help, to rescue, and to bring people to safety. She said she’ll never forget the faces of those we lost.

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Jackie LiBrizzi is a multimedia journalist at News13. Jackie is originally from Hamilton, New Jersey, and was raised in Piedmont, South Carolina. Jackie joined the News13 team in June 2023 after she graduated as a student-athlete from the University of South Carolina in May 2023. Follow Jackie on X, formerly Twitter, Facebook , or Instagram , and read more of her work he r e .

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