Gaston remembers 9-11

Devin McKenney, left, lights a candle for fellow Community Fire Department firefighter Stephen Roberts at the 10th Annual We Will Never Forget ceremony in Stanley on Sunday September 11, 2011. Over 100 firefighters from 18 departments attended this year's event.

Linda English Edwards points the the plaque for her father to her grandson Ayden Whitney, 6, at the new Gastonia Police Memorial following a joint 9-11 memorial and dedication ceremony in front of the Gastonia Police station on Sunday September 11, 2011. Edward's father, Officer James Edward 'Red' English, was shot and killed in the line of duty in 1948 when she was 7 years old.

Memorial

Angie Allen, left, lights a candle for her daughter Leann Allen, 8, during a memorial for 2-year-old Addison Lanham in the parking lot of the Exxon station on Edgewood Road in Bessemer City on Saturday July 23, 2011.

Lanham was transported by ambulance from the adjacent America's Best Inn on Thursday and died at the hospital shortly thereafter from an untreated broken leg and sepsis (blood poisoning). The child's mother and registered sex offender boyfriend both face charges in the death.

A Marine Comes Home

A U.S. Marine Master Sergeant offers words to the family of fallen Marine Lance Cpl. Nicholas O'Brien, including his mother Tammy O'Brien, second from right, sister Haley O'Brien and father Richard O'Brien, Jr. during a memorial service for fallen Marine Lance Cpl. Nicholas O'Brien at First Assembly of God church on South Myrtle School Road on Monday June 20, 2011.

Nicholas O'Brien was the first member of the armed forces from Gaston County to be killed in Afghanistan since the conflict began. A roadside bomb exploded while he and his fellow marines were on routine foot patrol in Helmand Province on June 9, killing O'Brien and wounding others.

View a full slideshow from the event and read more about it here.

U.S. Marines carry the casket containing the body of Lance Cpl. Nicholas O'Brien to a waiting hearse following the memorial service. O'Brien will be laid to rest next Tuesday at Arlington National Cemetery.

Above: Supporters with U.S. flags line the entrance to First Assembly of God to welcome the procession carrying O'Brien's body to the memorial service. Below: Members of the Patriot Guard Riders turn out in support of O'Brien.

Memorial

Seated with her family, Christine Boone's sister Minnie Jones, second from right, sheds tears Sunday during a memorial service for Boone at East End Baptist Church. Boone is the latest of eight Rocky Mount area women found murdered in recent years under similar circumstances.

Below: The hands of Jackie Wiggins, left, and Diana Nicholson lock together in prayer during the memorial service. Wiggins' daughter Jackie Thorpe and Nicholson's daughter Taraha Nicholson are two of the eight women, including Boone, found murdered in the Rocky Mount area in recent years.