‘Lost but not forgotten’: Nine Line CEO on honoring fallen soldiers’ families

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - As Veterans Day approaches, Nine Line Apparel CEO Tyler Merritt said his commitment to serving did not end when he took off the uniform. Merritt, a veteran, said that mission is personal.From a garage to a Savannah headquartersMerritt said he was stationed in Savannah in 2006.“I got stationed here in 2006, and one of my first jobs was taking over merchandising, morale, and warfare. Morale and spirit gear for our unit. And I found myself becoming the T-shirt guy as a side job from being a platoon leader in the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment,” Merritt said.In 2012, he started Nine Line Apparel in his garage, making one shirt at a time. Nine Line Apparel is now a multimillion-dollar company headquartered in Savannah with multiple locations across the country.Support for homeless veterans“Savannah has given so much to us. So giving back to the community in terms of helping our homeless veteran population became a calling for us. So over the last several y