'WE WILL PREVAIL': Destin piper makes a joyful noise on 9/11 (with VIDEO)

As the breeze fluttered the feathered cap of Destinite Bob Horner, the silence outside of Destin Elementary School was broken by the melody of Horner’s bagpipes — a haunting sound that has carried many 9/11 patriots forward.

“It’s a sad time when our country is attacked, but it is also a proud time, because it brings out the best in people,” Horner told The Log. “I can’t imagine 600 people running to a building that’s collapsing.”

On the eighth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on America, many Destin schools and businesses commemorated the day of remembrance by flying the American flag at half-staff.

A handful got a visit from “The Piper of the Sand,” the role for which Horner is well-known around the community.
Mary Noser’s first-grade class at DES took in the sight of the kilt-wearing Horner as he played renditions of “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” “You’re a Grand Old Flag,” and “Amazing Grace.”

Horner has been playing the bagpipes for nearly 20 years and is a member of the 23rd Highlanders, a Destin-based nationwide brotherhood of bagpipe players. Since Sept. 11, 2001, he has played each year at Destin’s City Hall, fire department and area businesses. He even played for the New York Fire Department in April of 2002.

“They say bagpipes get into your blood,” Horner said, explaining how they have a way of giving people strength to carry on and how they serve as a “melancholy remembrance.”

Horner served in the Coast Guard and comes from a long line of others who served our country in uniform, including his state trooper father, a grandfather who was “in the cavalry,” and two uncles who served in World War II.

Horner’s Scottish and Irish heritage gives him a special connection to the historical instrument.

“I’m a mixture, like many good old Americans,” Horner said.

Horner said the best compliment he gets on his performances is when people bow their heads and listen, especially on 9/11.

“It reminds me that we will prevail,” Horner said.

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For a gallery of photos from Sept. 11, click here.