Starting with the 9/11/2001 tragedies, we are proud to have provided flag cases for many families. It is a small token of our appreciation for the great risks police and firefighters take to keep our communities safe.

In 2001 and 2002 we sent approximately 160 flag cases to families of firefighters, police, and military who lost their lives at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. This was done in cooperation with a number of other woodworking clubs across the country that also provided many flag cases. Closer to home, in 2001 we provided a flag case to the family of an Oakland Police officer who lost his life while on an undercover narcotics stakeout.

In 2002 we honored a Norcal firefighter who lost his life in a forest fire.

In 2004 flag cases honoring two police officers were donated. One officer was with the SFPD and the other with Oakland. The SFPD officer died when a suspect pulled and fired an assault rifle at the officer and his partner.

In 2005 three police officers were honored. These men worked for the San Leandro, Pittsburg and Daly City Police Departments. One was shot while attempting to arrest two robbery suspects and another was shot in an ambush attack at a residence.

2006 resulted in four local police and firefighters losing their lives. One was a firefighter from Santa Clara who was electrocuted while fighting a fire. The other three were police officers from San Francisco and Palo Alto. One of the SFPD officers was killed while pursuing robbery suspects who used their van to ram the police car. In Palo Alto an officer was shot while trying to break up a fight.

We were fortunate to not have to present any flag cases in 2007.

In 2008 two flag cases were given to families of officers from Richmond and Martinez. While the Richmond officer died in a car wreck, his organs were donated to a man in San Francisco "who had 24 hours to live". As the Richmond police department said "the last thing he did was save a life".

In 2009, five flag cases were presented. Four Oakland police officers lost their lives this year all resulting from a traffic stop where the suspect opened fire and killed the two investigating officers. In the resulting manhunt the assailant killed two more officers when he was cornered in a building in Oakland. The fifth officer was from SFPD.

In 2010 one Richmond Police officer lost his life in the line of duty.

2011, however, found one police officer and two firefighters giving their lives to protect us. Both firefighters were critically injured during an explosion while bravely fighting a house fire in the Diamond Heights neighborhood. The Vallejo police officer used his patrol car to cause a suspect's SUV to spin out. The suspect then fled on foot and was pursued by the officer. The suspect hid behind a fence and when the officer closed on him he shot the officer.

One Concord Police Officer lost his life in the line of duty in 2012. He was shot during a traffic stop.

In 2013 we were fortunate that again only one local police officer lost his life. He was with the Santa Cruz police.

In 2014 we provided flag cases to the families of three policemen. Two CHP officers were killed in a vehicle crash while responding to a 911 call. The third officer was with the BART police and the victim of an accidental shooting by another officer.

We honored two police officers killed in the line of duty in 2015. In San Jose, an officer was shot and killed as he and other officers responded to a suicide threat at an apartment. In Hayward, an officer was shot and killed while conducting a traffic stop by an occupant of the vehicle.

To date in 2016, we have presented a flag case to the family of an officer of the Richmond Police Department whom was slain at his home. And in June a San Jose police officer was killed in a motorcycle crash when another vehicle tried to turn in front of him and his family was presented with a flag case.

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