On September 11, 2001, two airplanes hit the World Trade Center in New York, while another crashed into the Pentagon, and another fell into a Pennsylvanian field. Dartmouth saluted fallen brother and sisters, as well as offered prayers for peace today in remembrance of the events fifteen years ago.

“I had just worked a midnight to 8 a.m.,” recalled Dartmouth Detective Kyle Costa. “I was at the gym, so I immediately went home.” There, Costa watched via television as the second tower was hit.

“We have grown stronger as a nation, as is proven here today by a group of complete strangers brought together to honor and remember another group of complete strangers,” he said to a small crowd at the station on Russells Mills Road. The police department then gave remembrance with the honor guard.

“It’s another way we can help reestablish and reinforce patriotism in this country,” said Costa.

Across town, District No. 3 Fire Chief Richard Arruda also led a memorial. Fifteen years ago, Arruda said he worked in the private sector. “The whole business left early that day.”

This year, Arruda met his department at the headquarters on Cross Road, and before starting the ceremony, trucked the men out to answer a call. Upon return, the department lowered the flag, rang bells, and gave a moment of silence for the 343 fallen firefighters of the 2001 tragedy.

“We do our job. We do our work, and the guys feel this is important for us to do every year, so we do it every year,” said Arruda. “They have a connection to those firemen.”

In Padanaram, Reverend Scott Ciosek led the St. Peter’s Episcopal Church congregation outside to the new peace garden, where they then remembered September 11 with a peace pole, marked “That peace prevail on Earth” in the Spanish, Portuguese, English, and Wampanoag languages.

“We picked this date to honor our victims and remind people that the need for peace in the world is still there,” said Ciosek.

Ciosek said in 2001, he was on his way to the Bristol Community College campus in Fall River, where he worked as a chaplain. He noted that the 9/11 event was so tragic, it is “etched on your psyche.” Not a single person doesn’t remember that day, he explained.

“With all the sadness of 9/11, there is hope in a peace pole,” said Sarah O’Donnell, a parish member. “It’s very important for the young people to hear these conversations because they didn’t experience it, but it’s part of their history too,” she said.

"The most important thing for me... it's not only for our own people, it's for all the other people out there too. We want to provide here on these grounds a spiritual oasis," said Ciosek, inviting community members to meditate in the garden.