PALMYRA, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) -- More than 100 people gathered at the Lake Monticello Volunteer Fire and Rescue Station for an annual tradition of reflection and remembrance of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

The tradition has held strong for the past two decades.

As an American flag was hoisted high in the air, speeches from various first responders and public officials echoed throughout the area.

The crowd faced a structure of steel arranged into a cross placed in the department's memorial garden. It is a piece of one of the fallen Twin Towers that the fire department received in 2011 for the 10th anniversary of the attacks.

"It's our way of honoring all those people who have sacrificed in the past, are sacrificing now, and are going to sacrifice in the future. It's our way of keeping it alive, if you will," said Fire Chief Richie Constantino.

Constantino has been the fire chief for 20 years, but before that, he was a fire chief in New York City.

"I lost a lot of friends. I lost a lot of family members on Sept. 11. And I'm still losing friends, through the 9/11 sicknesses," he said.

Nearly 3,000 people were killed on the day of the attacks, including several hundred first responders.

Many who survived continue to be plagued by illnesses caused by the toxins to which they were exposed on that day and its aftermath.

As the community came together on Saturday, they remembered the way the community came together 20 years ago.

"We should never forget. We should always remember. But we should also always remember what happened afterwards, which is, what has already been said today. America came together. Came together, united. Came together in sorrow. It came together in the promise of a better America," said Tony O'Brien, a member of the Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors.