VIDEO: Nearly 3,000 people died the day of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Among them were 343 New York City firefighters, plus eight emergency medical service workers from private companies who responded to the Twin Towers in New York City. To honor them, Wisconsin firefighters are collecting 351 pairs of new or slightly used men's shoes to display at the Wisconsin State Firefighters Memorial in Wisconsin Rapids on Sept. 11 this year — the 20th anniversary of the attacks.
Jack Sponholtz, a member of the Tisch Mills Fire Department for 56 years, came up with the idea for collecting the shoes. He was the commander of the Manitowoc Hazmat Team in 2001, and he recalled that at the time of the attacks his team and other agencies were inside "The Bunker" under the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Office to discuss the results of recent emergency drills at local nuclear power plants.