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NYPD Holds First 9/11 Memorial Procession; Mourners Head To Memorial

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- For the first time, the NYPD held a procession in Lower Manhattan to mark the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

The NYPD Emerald Society Pipes and Drums band lead the way Friday afternoon at the special officer-filled remembrance where music, marching and tribute combine, CBS2's Dave Carlin reported.

The procession honored all those who died on Sept. 11 and in the days, months and years after.

"Families of the deceased officers have been invited and it's the department's way of commemorating those lives that were lost and continue to be lost," outgoing NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said. "It's appropriate that it's going to be as large as it's going to be this year. The 15th anniversary has a significance to it and I'm pleased that I'll still be commissioner at the time of that event and will participate in it."

The parade stepped off at noon on Broadway near Liberty Street, heading south through Battery Park City and ending up at the NYPD police memorial in North Cove Marina.

Organizers scheduled the procession for Friday to avoid any conflict with Sunday's official memorial service, which marks 15 years since the Twin Towers came down in the terrorist attacks.

9/11 Police Memorial Procession

Chopper 2 is over the NYPD 9/11 Memorial procession in lower Manhattan.

Posted by CBS New York on Friday, September 9, 2016

The NYPD has also created a video series to honor the many heroes from that day.

Members of the FDNY were also discussing the 9/11 attacks Friday, as WCBS 880's Stephanie Colombini reported. A total of 334 members of the department were killed in the 2001 attack, but the tragedy for the department did not end there.

Jake Lemonda of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association said more than 10,000 members of the department have at least one certified World Trade Center illness.

He said the reauthorization of the Zadroga Act was critical to helping sick firefighters, but he said it has come to light that conditions not yet covered by the bill could also be linked to Ground Zero.

"We need documentation so that we can point to medical evidence that we can make the connection between the events of that day and these illnesses," Lemonda said.

Some of those illnesses include multiple sclerosis and autoimmune disease.

Meanwhile, an American flag that was seen in one of the most iconic images from 9/11 has returned to the World Trade Center site.

The photo shows firefighters raising the flag at Ground Zero. But 9/11 Memorial Museum President Joe Daniels said that flag actually went missing and was replaced by another.

Firefighters Raise A U.S. Flag At The Site Of The World Trade Center
FILE: Firefighters raise a U.S. flag at the site of the World Trade Center after two hijacked commercial airliners were flown into the buildings September 11, 2001 in New York. (Photo by 2001 The Record (Bergen Co. NJ)/Getty Images)

"For a long time people didn't know it was missing until someone made the comparison between the original and what was there," Daniels said.

The original flag's whereabouts remained a mystery until 2014, when the History Channel aired a story about it. That's when a man claiming to be a former U.S. Marine walked into a firehouse in Washington state holding a flag.

The man claimed it came from a 9/11 widow.

"Said it had been given to him by a woman who wasn't aware anyone was looking for it. Saw a program on television and wanted it to go to the right place, and he delivers this flag, that's all we know," 9/11 Memorial Museum director Alice Greenwald said.

Examinations indicated it was indeed the same the flag from the World Trade Center site.

"It's a piece of 9/11 history that has finally come home," Greenwald said.

The flag went on display at the museum on Thursday.

The gathering planned for Sunday will be at once familiar and unique, CBS2's Lou Young reported.

"Already there are young people in high school for whom 9/11 is not a lived memory, it's clearly past history for them," 9/11 Museum Director Alice Greenwald said.

As Peter Folyk walks along the reflecting pool at the September 11th memorial -- he remembers the day, like it was yesterday.

"We just picked ourselves up and we went to the stairs, there were already people going down," he told CBS2's Tracee Carrasco.

Folyk was in Tower 1 on the 20th floor.

"It still gives me the chills, that's why I come down here as often as I can," he said.

Folyk visits the memorial often and two days before the anniversary, he says he will be here on Sunday as New Yorkers will look back and remember the ones who were lost.

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