Organized by town and county officials, the procession, led by a color guard from the N.C. National Guard, began at the Railroad Avenue parking lot and ended with a candlelight vigil on the courthouse steps. Speakers included Commission Chairman Jay Denton, N.C. Rep. Phil Haire, N.C. Sen. Dan Robinson, Principal Chief of the Eastern Band Leon Jones, Sylva Mayor Brenda Oliver, Village of Forest Hills Mayor Irene Hooper and ex-POW Walter Middleton, who wore the Purple Heart he earned in World War II. The march, which remembered those lost and missing in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., also honored heroes of the rescue effort. Local emergency, rescue, fire and law enforcement personnel, who lined the steps of the Jackson County Courthouse, were recognized during the ceremony. - Photo courtesy of Livingston Kelley
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