The Richland Center Fire Department continued their annual tradition of flying the US flag high above their station on Church Street on September 11. It serves as a reminder of the thousands of American lives that were lost as a result of the attacks on September 11, 2001. Four jet planes were hijacked by members of the al-Qaeda terrorist group, with two of them leveling the 110-story twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, one of them damaging the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, and the fourth crash landing near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers thwarted the hijackers. In New York City, other buildings that surrounded the twin towers were also destroyed or damaged. In addition to the deaths of jet plane crew and passengers, occupants of the attacked buildings, and emergency responders, more than 6,000 people were injured and many people died of 9/11-related cancer and respiratory diseases in the months and years following the attacks. (Photo by Dawn Kiefer)