CHATHAM COUNTY, N.C. — On the 19th anniversary of that fateful, tragic day, three local 9/11 first responders gathered in front of the Chatham County 9/11 Memorial to talk about their experiences almost two decades later.

“On 9/11, I was a police officer in New York City in the Bronx," said Daniel Gravius, a 9/11 first responder who lives in Holly Springs.

“I was a lieutenant on Ladder 10, Fairfax Fire and Rescue," said Bob Zoldos, a 9/11 first responder and current Durham Fire Chief.

“I was a New York City police officer sergeant," said Robert Young, a 9/11 first responder who lives in Pittsboro.

Gravius, Zoldos, and Young risked it all 19 years ago.

“The devastation was unreal, and you really didn't know what you were looking for, you were just looking for a moving person," Gravius said.

“The whole idea was to listen to people possibly making noise, help me, screaming, whatever sounds you could hear," Young said.

“We came over the hill and you could see the Pentagon, the smoke pouring out of it and the collapse, it was a little shocking," said Zoldos, who was in Washington, D.C. responding to the attack at the Pentagon.

Gravius and Young were in Manhattan that day, and many more days after that, searching for bodies.

“One thing that stood out, out of everything we were doing, was the smell, because decayed bodies have a certain smell, and it's something you never forget," Young recalled.

“It got very dark overnight and eerie, all the light illuminated all the dust that was still falling," Gravius said.

“We were the first search and rescue team to arrive (at the Pentagon), but there had been a lot of great work by local police fire and rescue prior to our arrival," Zoldos said.

All three opened their hearts, some for the first time.

“I never really showed this before," said Gravius, who showed us the shirt he wore on 9/11. "Yeah this shirt. It kinda smells still kinda like a chemical fire. The fire burned for such a long time.”

Zoldos keeps the helmet he wore on 9/11 in his Durham office, while Young, now a real estate professional, has old shields and pictures he keeps at home.

They’ve kept what they can, so that 9/11 is never forgotten.

But Young and Gravius say it's not nearly enough.

“The Trade Center grounds should be a national landmark, it should be run and taken care of by the federal government," Gravius said.

“The reality is at this point, I don't understand why there’s not a national holiday for it," Young said.

And though the pandemic isn’t making it any easier to honor those we lost, Zoldos says at the very least, this 19th anniversary should be a reminder of the America that came together.

“If you can't go to a ceremony because of the pandemic that you try to remember what life was like that day after, while members of my team, and NYPD, and FDNY are trying to look for survivors, what the rest of the world was doing. It was an unbelievable time of unity," Zoldos said.