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Sept. 10--ST. LOUIS -- A drizzle didn't keep the region's firefighters from their annual rally here Saturday, nor did it stop families from lining downtown streets to cheer the trucks, sirens blaring.
Hundreds of firemen descended on St. Louis this weekend for four days of events -- a vigil on Thursday, a ball Friday night, the 28th annual rally and parade Saturday and, Sunday, a 9/11 memorial at Art Hill in Forest Park at 8:46 a.m. -- the time the first plane struck the World Trade Center in New York City 10 years ago.
The firefighters trucked in, their shaved heads, wrap-around sunglasses and cargo-pants on display, from a dozen departments near and far -- a truck even arrived from Holts Summit, near Jefferson City.
And thousands of St. Louisans lined the streets for Saturday's rally.
"I'd say this is one of our biggest years for the rally," said Shawn Bittle, a St. Louis City firefighter and chair of the weekend events.
Angela Brock-Bokern, a 9/11 survivor, said she came to carry the face of a firefighter. She was on floor 61 of the second World Trade Center tower when the plane hit, and passed firefighters as she was taking the stairs down.
"I'll never forget seeing them go up," said Brock-Bokern, a special projects manager for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter then, now back in St. Louis. "It's something I still haven't resolved. I didn't think anybody should be going up."
