The Astonishing Legacy of a 9/11 Firefighter and the Tunnel to Towers Foundation

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Militarily speaking, episode77, tunnel to Towers Foundation.
This episode we talk with Jack Om retiredfire department of the City of New York
Battalion Commander and current boardmember of Tunnel to Towers Foundation.

(00:26):
Welcome to Militarily Speaking.
To you by Armed Forces Bank.
This is Tom McLean and Jody Vickery.
Hello, hello.
I'm the military retail execfor Armed Forces Bank, Jody.
Newly announced.
I can say that you're sort ofin that honeymoon phase, right?
That's what we'll call it.
She's, she's been promoted three timesin the last 61 days, so she is Oh,

(00:49):
that, she's the chief digital officer.
Sounds like a lot of,much to do about nothing.
Right, Jack?
Well, I, it's, it's allabout digital now, so
I should just say she'llwork for food and it's fine.
And she, she works really hard.
I think she's got a
hashtag digital.
Yeah.
Everywhere
in her office.
Something like that.
Again, welcome to our show.
We're really excited to have you listeningand learning all about our guest, Jack,

(01:11):
om, and Tunnel to Towers Foundation.
I wanna tell our audience justa little bit about you, Jack.
This should, none of thisshould be a surprise to you.
I hope I. Unless Tom made it up.
Jack is a retired fire departmentof the City of New York, FDNY,
battalion Commander and CurrentTunnel to Towers Foundation.
Board Member Jack first arrivedoff duty at ground zero after both
towers had collapsed on nine 11.

(01:33):
The 32 year FDNY veteran recallsone of the saddest memories upon
arrival at the scene during the past.
The personal alert safety systemalarms going off on the firefighter's
equipment with which lets youknow a firefighter is in distress.
For Om, it was difficult to hear thosealarms and know that firefighters
underneath the steel and concreteneeded help or that rescuers
wouldn't be able to get to them.

(01:55):
The rescue crews climbed to the top ofthe pile and started digging through
the rubble by hand before the heavymachinery made its way to the site.
When a firefighter or police officerwas found, the rescuers called the
unit to which they belonged and hadthem visit the site to identify and
help carry out their units fallen.
One of them's better memories of nine11 occurred early in the morning on

(02:15):
September 12th when he witnessed agroup of firefighters in formation and
saluting the rescuers at ground zero.
These firefighters were from a smalltown in Tennessee, and when they saw
the second tower collapse, they racedto their cars and drove to Manhattan to
assist the rescuers in any way they could.
Un witnessed Americanscoming together as one.
After nine 11, the retired FDNY battalioncommander personally lost over 20 of his

(02:37):
Australian battalion colleagues, and threeout of the nine units never came home.
Grieving with the widows and theirfamilies was one of the hardest things
he's ever done as a member of theFDNY, the birth of the Tunnel to Towers
Foundation was one of the great thingsthat came out of nine 11, he believes.
As an ambassador for the Tunnel toTowers Foundation, omas traveled across
the country to represent the thousandsof first responders nationwide in

(02:59):
promoting the hard work and dedicationthey display for their communities.
Welcome, Jack.
I would have to, it is anunderstatement of the millennium to say.
It is an honor to have you on our show,and I'm grateful that you're here with us.
I would love for you to, to just startby sharing with our audience kind
of that big picture view of Tunnelto Towers Foundation, if you would,

(03:19):
kinda given the overarching mission.
And I'm, I'm sure we'll haveall sorts of questions as we go
and, and more about his story too.
Yeah.
And your, your personal story.
I mean, I'm, I mean the bio does,does justice to what he went
through, but sometimes hearing itright from Jack is different too.
Yep, yep.
Absolutely.
Well, I thank you, Tomand Jody for having me.
It's my pleasure to be herewith you and your audience.

(03:41):
So this foundation is sonear and dear to my heart.
You know, like, like you said in my bio,I did lose 20 of my men that were in my
battalion at the time, but I also lostmy whole firehouse where I started my
career in 1981 in midtown Manhattan.
That firehouse was wiped out.
I got promoted and I went to a firehousein Brooklyn where that firehouse was

(04:05):
wiped out, and then I got promoted againto captain and, and thank God it, I
worked in Staten Island for six years onmy 32 years, and, and those guys didn't
get there in time to die, thank God.
And then again promoted and went backto Brooklyn in, in my battalion as I was
an off duty battalion chief on nine 11.

(04:26):
And you know that story, three outtanine units never came back home.
So the losses runs deepin, in my, in my heart.
And one of my, one of my stories Ialways tell is the story of Jerry Duffy.
He was the firefighter that broke me in.
You know, you go through the academy, thefire academy, for six weeks of training.
Now it's 18 weeks of training, but in1981 it was only six weeks of training.

(04:50):
You come outta the academy and youcontinue your training in a firehouse
because now the senior firefightersare, are teaching you the ropes,
what to do in a firehouse and whatto do in a fire, and all the other
emergency scenes that we respond to.
And Jerry Duffy was a senior guy.
In my company in Manhattan,and he broke me in on a job.

(05:12):
And he unfortunately died on nine 11.
He could have beenretired 10 years earlier.
Wow.
But he loved the job so much.
Like so many of our brothers loved thisjob so much, we never wanna retire.
Jerry could've retired, but hestayed on the job and and he died.
So I'll always have a softspot in my heart for Jerry.

(05:33):
And of course, thisfoundation, what it does.
You know, in the beginning was just tohave a great run to retrace Steven Sillas
footstep footsteps through the tunnel.
What he did that morning of nine 11, andI'll tell you Steven's story in a minute.
I was a runner back then, you know,in 2002, and I got my guys from my

(05:53):
battalion all involved to hold thebanners, the faces of the guys.
We lost that day and we really, weran through the Brooklyn Battery
Tunnel retracing Steven's footsteps.
So I was hooked on this greatfoundation from day one.
So it's been near, like I said,nearing dear to my heart and, and
part of me for the last 24 years.

(06:16):
I can hear that in your voice.
I can hear it in your voice for sure.
Yeah.
You're, you're gonna talk, and I thinkwe're gonna get into that too, about
the story of the 1.7 miles, right?
And then the
Yeah.
Re recreating the run thereafter,and that's 60, I can't imagine
60 pounds of firefighter gear.
Right.
He had to.
Hall during that run or walk or

(06:37):
probably a run walk.
Yes.
He, he, there's no way he could ranright through with all Yeah, but
he was running into, into thecalamity versus running from it.
So that, that's, that's partof who you are, Jack, because
you wanted to be a firefightersince you were three years old.
It's, it, you know, it's, it's a calling.
I think for most people.
I think it's the military firstresponder, you know, nursing teaching.

(07:01):
I think those professions more so thanothers, have a calling for people.
And, and I was called to this serviceand I loved every minute of it.
So why don't we jump rightinto Steven's story then.
Okay.
Sure.
Steven's story I've been telling foralmost 24 years, it still inspires me.
I still get the goosebumps when I tellthe story and, and I'm gonna do it.

(07:25):
I'm going out to a rotarymeeting tomorrow at night in,
in, uh, Tom's River, New Jersey.
And, and I always start with mypresentations with story because that's
how our, our foundation got started.
Steven was an off-dutyNew York City firefighter.
On the morning of nine 11, he actuallyworked the night tour of nine 10.
He got off that beautiful morning,the beautiful Tuesday morning.

(07:49):
That was nine 11 before the attacks, andhe was on his way home to play golf with
his three brothers in Staten Island, ourhometown of Staten Island the morning
of nine 11 and Stephen, remarkable man.
It was almost on a golfcourse when he heard about the
first plane into the tower.

(08:10):
He immediately turned his truckright around, drove back to
his Brooklyn base firehouse.
Steven was a member of squad companynumber one, which is an elite rescue unit
in the New York City Fire Department.
When he got to squad company one'sfirehouse, they were already on the
scene of the World Trade Center attack.
So Steven went into his h, intohis firehouse, got all his gear.

(08:32):
Threw his gear into the back of histruck and drove his truck to the Brooklyn
Battery Tunnel, which is a tunnelthat connects Brooklyn to Manhattan.
All the bridges and tunnels were closedthat morning for security reasons.
So Steven left his truck righton the highway, put 60 pounds of
firefighting gear on his back, and ranthrough the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel.

(08:55):
The tunnel itself is 1.7 miles long.
He kept outta the tunnel onto West Streetand ran up West Street and he, he joined
in the rescue effort into the South Towerthat morning to save lives, which he did.
Stephen unfortunately died thatmorning along with 342 other New
York City firefighters, 23 NewYork City police officers and 37

(09:21):
Port authority police officers.
Steven was only 34 years old.
Married to a beautiful wife Sally, andthe father of five small kids himself.
Wow.
Yeah.
Steven's baby was just born, I think thebaby was nine months old when Steven died.
Wow.
Steven was the baby of seven.
His, he, he was a miracle child.

(09:42):
His, his parents were kind of old tohave a, a baby, but it was born 14 years.
His closest sibling, which was Frank.
Oh wow.
Our chairman and CEO.
So it was really a miracle.
But his dad died when Steven was eight andhis mom wound up dying when Steven was 10.
So Steven was orphaned bythe time he was 10 years old.

(10:03):
So Steven's three brothers andhis three sisters actually raised
him since he was 10 years old.
So not only did they feellike they lost a brother.
It felt like they lost a son.
And you know, history Brothers andHistory Sisters created this foundation
to honor and remember those twenty ninehundred and seventy seven Americans

(10:25):
that were murdered that morning.
And in doing so, we'vebeen honoring those people.
And all of 7,000, more than7,000 military men and women
that have died since protecting.
This great country of ours for the last 24years, and, and I'm so happy to be a small
part of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.

(10:46):
Sote Steven did that trek by himselfafter he got out of his truck, right
after he, yeah, he left his truck onthe highway and, and there were other,
you know, there were fire trucks inthe tunnel that couldn't get through
because they, they closed it, right?
Yeah, they closed it.
So the traffic was, youknow, you could imagine.
Stands still, still in rushhour traffic in new, oh yeah.

(11:08):
York is no joke, but a disaster.
Like the World Trade Centerbeing hit by two planes.
You can imagine the trafficand it was at a standstill.
So Stephen made a great choice.
I mean, he, you know, he got there, hehad the determination to get there and
to help save lives, and he gave up hisown life because it had determination.

(11:32):
I think it's just remarkable.
I think that determination, not theperfect word for it, is what's played out
through this foundation over the last 24.
I mean, determined not to let his legacybe forgotten, not to let the legacy of so
many other firefighters and police, menand women, and port authority and just
civilian, civilian citizens, you know?
Right.

(11:52):
Living their lives.
And
to give almost financial independenceto people that have been affected
by this over the years too,with what the foundation does.
What a, what a remarkable way tohonor that, honor that memory.
You know, I've, I've watched over,over the years, just growing up,
living life, watching the news, sortof from, from afar, the evolution

(12:12):
of Tee to Tee and the foundation.
You know, I, I'd love for you to, towalk us through sort of how that has,
has evolved over time and, and what.
What has factored into the choicesthat have caused you to, to help in
different ways over the years and,and why that evolution has been so
important for, for the organization?

(12:32):
Sure.
So I mean, like you said,it's, it has been an evolution.
You know, in 2002 we had ourfirst run to retrace Steven's
footsteps through that tunnel.
1500 runners.
I was one of 'em.
And like I said before, I got hooked ona foundation when I found out what they
were doing and why they were doing it.

(12:54):
And like I said, it wasn't just, youknow, it was called Steven Silla Tunnel
Off Totes Foundation at the time, butit wasn't just to honor Steven, it was
there to honor, like I said before, thosetwenty nine hundred and seventy seven
Americans that were murdered that day.
So it was a good thingright from the spot.
And in the beginning, likeI said, we were a small.

(13:16):
Grassroots organization.
You know, what'd we do?
We started helping an orphanage in Haiti.
We started sending money so theycould rebuild this orphanage in Haiti.
'cause Steven was an orphan.
And we knew how difficultthat were for, for people.
And in Staten Island wehad Steven's house built.

(13:36):
It was with the founding NewYork founding, which would help.
And we don't even call'em orphans anymore.
Right?
I don't even know, you know?
Do they call 'em orphans anymore?
I don't think so.
I, I don't know.
I don't now,
I'm now I'm gonna have to find out.
Jack.
Thanks for putting that.
You'll be busy for the rest of the day.
Yes.
I need closure.
Yeah.
But, uh, you know, we have a,a house on Staten Island called

(13:58):
Steven's House with the New Yorkfounding where it took in orphans.
It took in teenage kidsthat had no family.
So this is how we started because Stevenwasn't often years ago and you know,
so we knew how important family is in,in helping and, and I think that's one
of the things we're lacking now in oursociety is that family basis of, of

(14:23):
having a mom, a dad, and somebody tocome home to and ask you how your day
was, sit down and have a meal with you.
So I, I think family's so importantthat way, and that's how we, we just
started doing little things like thatin our first 6, 7, 8 years of existence.
I was still working in thefire departments, so I wasn't

(14:43):
a day-to-day volunteer.
Frank needed something.
I think our golf program,we started a golf program.
To have a Veteran's Day golfouting 14, 15 years ago now.
So that came about.
I joined that committee.
I started getting people involvedin, in playing golf, raising money.
We used three golf courses now onStaten Island, on Veterans Day, and

(15:04):
have about six, 700 people back.
I. To a hotel, a ballroom, and, and havea, a nice cocktail and dinner and raise
more money for, for our foundation.
But it wasn't until 2009 when BrendaMorocco, another state lander,
and this is a coincidence I. Or ifyou do believe in a, in a destiny.

(15:26):
Destiny or higher power.
Yeah.
For this to happen, Brenda Morocco ofStaten Island was the first surviving,
quadruple amputee from the war in Iraqever to survive a fellow Staten Island.
He came home to, well, hecame home to lot to Reed.
For, for months and years.

(15:47):
But he was a, a fellow from StatenIsland and Frank Silla with his
vision and his leadership saidwe had to do something for him.
We have to take care of one of our own.
And that's just what we were.
We went down to Walter, to Reed and, andFrank did some research and said, we're
gonna build our first smart home forBrendan Morocco here in Staten Island.

(16:10):
So Frank and our foundation, wegalvanized the Staten Island community.
We had a, a barbecue on ColumbusDay and we raised $800,000 Oh wow.
To build our first smarthome on Staten Island.
And little did we know when we wentdown Walter Reed, there was three other
quadruple amputees that survived, butBrenda Morocco was a, was a first.

(16:35):
So we did it for one.
We're gonna do it for all.
Then we, we had a connection withWalter Reed and they would tell
us, yeah, we got a double amputee.
We got a single amputee, but he's blind.
We have a guy that's burntover 85% of his body.
Can you help him out?
And so that startedour smart Home program.

(16:56):
And now I'm happy to say thatwe have over 200 smart homes.
Already working and, and guysliving in our smart homes.
And this year we're gonnado build 60 smart homes.
Wow.
All around this great country.
So that's a remarkable thing becausethese smart homes are costing us anywhere
from 600 to a million dollars becauseyou know the price of property now.

(17:20):
Real estate.
Mm-hmm.
Oh yeah.
The price of lumber.
The price of materials,the price of labor.
It's all gone incredibly high.
So these homes are not cheap,but it's what these guys deserve.
Hey, Jack, where, where,where are the 200 homes today?
All over the country.
Tom, all over the country.

(17:40):
I can, you know what, I don't havea map of them, but I can, I can
send you where they're located.
A lot of them are located.
And next to army bases, next to hospitals.
Hmm.
That makes sense.
'cause these guys need them.
Yeah.
Need a lot of services.
A lot of, you know, even though theymight be living in a, in a smart
home, they still need medical help,you know, so they wanna be close

(18:01):
to the va. Yeah, that makes sense.
Yeah.
And then the 60 that you have coming up.
Yeah.
If you want to, that's a lot in one year.
If you wanna send me.
Current footprint and future footprint?
Say the website.
T two t.org, right.
T two t.org.
Yep.
Two t.org could be kind
of a,
you're challenging me sinceI'm having difficulty.
Just I know.
Speaking your tongue.
Twisting, speaking

(18:21):
words today, apparently it's hard.
I've seen, uh, specials and,and new stories where they take,
take you inside the homes before.
People have moved in, of course.
And just some of the thing,like a smart home type.
Yeah.
Some of the things that you can do to makethose accommodations are just remarkable.
Just to give them the independence andthe freedom to, to live their life,

(18:42):
which is, it's all pretty, pretty amazing
what one of my goal.
I do a, a homecomings for the smart homeprogram, so I'll out and mc a smart home.
I'll speak on behalf of the foundation.
And then we welcome the,the catastrophically injured
service person into the home.
So it's a, it's a wonderfulday because you get to see the

(19:02):
look on the family Oh, yeah.
When they first walk into the homeand see how this home will become
life changing for the families.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think your, your cup of what is,what is your why is probably constantly
being filled and, and overflowing.
I would, I would suspect through that.

(19:22):
You have to, you have to believe that thepeople that are living in smart homes are
staying there for the rest of their lives.
Right Ho Hopefully.
Yes.
It's the plan Anyway.
That's
the plan.
Yes.
Yeah.
So Jack, I'm gonna switch gearsa little bit about how people can
get involved, how people can I.
Volunteer or reach out to you too,because you've got a very expansive reach.

(19:43):
You've built a brand over the lastquarter of a century for the foundation,
and I won't name drop or anything,but like Mark Wahlberg and Kohl
Hauser and Dave Portnoy and TravisTri, and Dennis Craig and Carrie
Underwood, just to name a few, right?
Have, have talked about yourorganization and been on tv.
Talking about the good work that you do,but how, how are ways that people can

(20:06):
get involved either with their actionsor financially, and how would you best
encourage interested citizens, as wesay, to reach out and engage with your
organization at a local grassroots level?
Because you, again, you're not justabout ground zero, you're hitting the.
The U, the whole us and the wholeglobe with what you're doing.

(20:28):
But what are ways that people can,if they wanna go to the website, or
if they wanna say, how can I help?
What can I do?
What do you, what do you recommend?
True.
So, you know, being on, I'mon, I sit on three, four,
not-for-profit, board of directors.
And we always talk abouttime, talent, treasure.
So everybody has something they can give.

(20:50):
You know, some people have all three I.Some people can only give their time.
Some people can only give theirtalent and some people can only
give their treasure and, and somelucky people have all three to give.
So whatever you have to give, there'sa way for you to help our foundation.
Okay?
Whether it be by, we have 160golf outings all over the country.

(21:11):
We have 80 runs, 5K run, walk, andstair climbs all over the country.
We have cornhole tournaments.
We have bocce tournaments.
We have pickleball tournaments.
We have tennis tournaments,cocktail parties, dinner,
dinner, anything you can imagine.
If you have a love of doing something,you can raise money for this foundation.

(21:36):
Well, I simply go on ourwebsite and donate $11 a month.
That's our big draw.
We have about 600,000Americans every month.
Giving us $11 a month.
So that's a wonderful,easy way in my eyes.
Of course, $11, especially in New York,will buy you one, one glass of wine.

(21:57):
Maybe.
I thought you just say
water.
No, I think it was a, itwas three ounces of water.
Well, that, yeah,
so, you know, it's not in, in my opinion,it's not a lot to ask and you can feel
good about yourself at the end of the day.
By giving of your time,talent, or your treasure.
And I always said, you know, whenyou give, you get, and uh, one of my

(22:20):
daughters, another daughter went to BostonCollege and she was trained, well, I have
to say, all my kids were were educated.
Well, uh, but she said the, I forgetwhat was it, IANS up in Boston?
No, that's in Villanova.
I think she had the Jesuits upin Boston College and they always
said, when one gives two receive.

(22:41):
So think about that.
When you give of yourself, not onlyare you helping a person, you're
giving to, you're helping yourself.
And that I think is the, inmy estimation, in my 67 years
of life, is the key to life.
'cause we, we think that by buying things.

(23:03):
For ourselves, we're gonna feel better.
But it's when you give of yourself,that's really when you, when you feel
better, and Frank still says it anotherway, he says, when you're feeling bad and
you're having a bad day, go hug somebody.
You'll see how good youfeel at the end of the day.
And that's the, that's you basically.

(23:24):
It's the secret to life is tohelp each other, and that's
what this foundation does.
We help our first responders, wehelp our military, and we give
people ordinary citizens an outlet.
A way that they can help other people.
He, he should be like an ambassadorfor TTT, don't you think so?

(23:44):
Yeah.
Speaking of quotes, I had to pull upthe one that I love too about giving.
It's by Helen Walton.
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Speaking of quotes, I had to pull upthe one that I love too about giving.
It's by Helen Walton, SamWalton's wife, founder of Walmart.

(25:08):
It's, it's not what you gather inlife, but what you scatter in life that
tells what kind of life you have lived.
That's
a good one,
Mr.
McClain.
I. That's beautiful.
I'm pretty good like that.
I still haven't found out theorphan thing yet, but I've
I You have something todo later today thought.
I know
That was a great,
yeah,
yeah.
Yeah.
Thank, no, I mean, it's good.
It's very good perspective for sure.

(25:30):
I'm using
that one.
The one one gives to receive though.
Yeah, I, I heard him say that on oneof his interviews when Jack did that.
Yes, I used that one and I have to on,on that interview and I think that was
the Marist University one put Yeah.
I didn't give credit to my, my,my daughter, but I did tell her
and I said, and, and she forgot.
She told me that because I was doing abig, uh, I heard I had to go to corporate.

(25:53):
One convention.
Corporate one is one ofour corporate sponsors.
They, they're great.
They, they actually comeinto all our smart homes.
They'll lay down the floor, theflooring, the carpeting, the tile,
and they do all that for free.
So they invited me to to speak at oneof the National Convention, 800 people.

(26:13):
They wanted me to speak for about 20,30 minutes, so I'm practicing my talk
in front of my, in front of Kelly, my,my baby daughter who's now 31 years old.
Yeah.
She's still a baby though.
Yeah, she's still a baby.
She said, dad, don't sayone woman gives know one.
You give, you get it.

(26:33):
It sounds.
Sounds like a fireman.
Right?
That's what I was for 33 years.
That probably speakingfrom, from New York.
Yeah.
I thought we talk.
All right.
You got a problem with, right?
Yeah.
You talking to me, she said, say it thisway and I'll never forget, and then I tell
her, I said, you know I used your quote.
Your dad didn't forget you toldme that, so that's awesome.

(26:55):
I give her credit.
That's awesome.
That's awesome.
So you've, you've shared acouple, I think today already.
Certainly Steven's story andyou know, I just, I wonder if,
and Jerry Duffy's story too,and Jerry Duffy's story.
Yes,
for sure.
I wonder if, as you, as you thinkabout, think about all of the different
families that you've helped and sinceyou're there at all of these homecoming

(27:16):
ceremonies, is there, is there.
A family that is always sort of topof mind for you, or a story that
you could relate as appropriate,of course with, with their audience
where you know that, you know, if youthink about your why, it's sort of
the first visual that comes to mind.
So I, I have to say, and I'm not gonnause any names, but I am more attached

(27:37):
to the, when a firefighter dice.
That family because only because we had20 widows in our battalion to deal with
and, and one of the things that the firedepartment did great was, and not to
assign it, but make sure that every widowin the New York City Fire Department.
Had a person they could callwas liaison that they could

(27:58):
call if they need anything.
So, uh, one, one of my lieutenants,Joe Gullickson, and I could say his
name because I have permission fromthe widow, 'cause we became very close.
Naomi Gullickson was Joe's widow.
Joe was a good friend of mine.
He died on nine 11 in my firehouse.
And Naomi had two small kids at the time.

(28:19):
She had a a 3-year-old daughter anda one and a half year old daughter.
And I was her liaison.
I did, I actually did Joe's eulogy.
I. We did a memorial service forhim because we never found his body.
But I've been taking Naomi down to thesite on nine 11 every year for the past
23, almost 24 years now, and I and I,and I tell her every year, I said, as

(28:45):
long as you want or need me to take you,I am here for you as long as I am able.
And, and just knowing that shehas me for as long as she needs
me, I is, is comforting to her.
And, and I think, uh, most of the,most of the guys that took care
of the widows feel the same way.

(29:05):
And we have that relationship.
So what I do, a homecoming or uh, uh, aribbon cutting for a firefighter's widow.
That moves me the most and, and makesme, you know, satisfied that we are
helping, you know, people close to my,you know, my family, my second family,
which is the fire department of New York.

(29:26):
Yeah.
You know, so.
I appreciate you sharing that story.
So we've, we've enjoyed Maryanne's withus today and we've enjoyed Maryanne.
Tom has been great McDonough helpingus as we navigate our way through
a fundraiser that we're doing outin Colorado Springs on June 20th.
I'll mention that date again.
I should still mention teach ht.org.
But we are, you've got agreat golf series program.

(29:48):
You mentioned Jack, there'swhat, 160 golf outings?
There's 80 5K, there's corn hole.
Tennis, pickleball, you name it.
There's a whole plethora of yesevents that you support that are great
fundraisers around the country, buttalk, talk about other, other programs
or talk about things that are availablethrough the foundation that are coming up.

(30:11):
I know that I just, if you goto your website now, it says The
climb, New York City is sold out.
Yes, I do that every year.
June, June 1st.
What
is it?
It's we, we climb up 104 storiesof the World Trade Center.
Oh, on the inside or outside?
Inside on the stairs, Tom.
Wow.

(30:31):
On the staircases.
It's always be like Spider-Man.
Yeah.
How you Hundred four stories, Tom.
Wow.
I can barely make it two stories.
I don't in the parkinggarage to get to my car
at night.
And we're taking a quick break.
Yeah,
it's stair climbs.
I do a couple stair climbsthroughout the city.
I've, I've been to Boston,Philadelphia to do stair climbs.
One 10 on March 22nd.

(30:53):
It's a 55 story stair climb.
So climbing stairs probably the hardestworkout you'll ever do in your life.
Oh yeah.
What, what's your, I willtake your word for it.
Like the, like the one Jack or Marianne?
The one on June 1st.
What's the capacity?
Why is it sold out?
Is it just,
we've been only have a thousand climbers.
Okay.
Because it's, we have to be outthere by nine o'clock in the morning.

(31:15):
So I actually, I'm considering and, andI'm getting old and my knees hurting
more, but I'm considered an elite climber.
So the elite climbers go offat five o'clock in the morning.
We're done within 15 to 24 minutes.
Okay.
That's then the regular people comeup and climb, so we have to be done

(31:37):
by nine o'clock is the bottom line,so they can open up the tower to all
the visitors and all the tourists.
15 or 20
minutes for 104.
You said 104 stories.
104 stories.
Yeah.
Jack, remind me, the firsttower was hit, was it 8 53?
8
46. The North Tower got hit.
Yeah.
9 0 3 to
to
South Tower got hit.

(31:59):
Which kind of makes it, you know, whenyou do those steps, that's the, the
climbs right around that timeframe.
It has even deeper meaning, right?
Yes.
Well, I mean, you know, just climbingup, just thinking, and I, it's
a thought, I always think about.
What went through, right?
Oh yeah.
Was firefighter's heads when they sawthese people streaming down the stairs

(32:20):
and they're walking up probably knowingthat this might be their last call.
Yeah.
I mean you had to.
You had to think of it.
We never said I, 32 years, I never thoughtonce about dying in a line of duty.
I think those guys had to think about it.
Yeah.
Regard into the unknown.
That was.
Unheard of what, what these terroristsdid to us that day to attack a civilian

(32:44):
target and, and to try and kill civilians.
We, we can never forget what they did.
I was just gonna usethose same two words too.
Right.
With, without organizations likeT two T, we will never forget.
So let's, let's be reminded, good or bad.
'cause there's good that came out of it.
Hey, Tom, if I could I I, before wego, I, I know, I don't know if you're

(33:07):
running outta time, but, oh, we got,we have another, we have another
three and a half hours we're okay.
Of the foundation.
And, you know, we got to the smarthome program, but in 2014 we had
two New York City police officers.
Sitting in their patrol car inBrooklyn, a gunman came up to the
car and shot through the windows andassassinated those two police officers.

(33:28):
I remember that.
And myself and John McDonough wereworking in a foundation at the time for
Hurricane Sandy relief, and the FrankSolar came running outta the office.
I'll never forget it.
He said two cops were just assassinated.
We have to do something for them.
And we with Mayor Giuliani did apress conference and in three weeks,
it was early December when theygot shot, I. In three weeks, we had

(33:52):
enough money to pay off those twocops mortgages for their families.
Wow.
And that started our Falling FirstResponder program, and that's how
we started paying off mortgagesfor police officers, firefighters
and EMS workers that die in aline of duty with young children.
Yeah, I remember when that happened.
I can't believe that was 2014.

(34:13):
In 2018, we started ourGold Star Family program.
You folks being in the military,you know what a gold star family is?
Yeah, right.
We started paying off gold star family'smortgages, and of course, in January of
2022, we start our newest, most expensiveprogram to eradicate homelessness
amongst our veteran population.

(34:35):
And so that's our program that's gonnacost us upwards of eight to $10 billion.
Yeah.
Is there an official
name for that program?
Homeless veteran program.
That's what we call it.
Okay.
Yep.
And that's on
our website
too, if you
need more information.
It does seem like you are evolvingand, uh, I even know there's a couple
folks out in Colorado Springs wherethey are living in homes that were

(34:59):
paid by T two T, their mortgages.
So
yes, we, I think I went outto, I did, what's his name?
Torres is Israel to homein Colorado Springs.
I did his homecoming.
In fact, they made a commercial.
It was on Fox News.
I was, I had a speaking part.
I'm usually in the backgroundof some of the commercials.
This time they actuallygave me a speaking part.

(35:20):
I had my New York CityFire Department uniform on.
I. I guess, I guess I sounded goodthat day and it put me, I had a,
a 22nd spider actually speaking.
So now you're, now you're an actor too.
Yeah, I'm, well, I've beenan actor for 67 years.
Tom,
what?
I think I'm, I think I'm the same guy.
Guy.
I think you're qualifi by.

(35:40):
Yes.
I
think you might as well be Tom.
Yeah.
Speaking your love language.
We've, we've mentioned the, the websitea couple times, and I don't think we
could, we could say it too frequently.
So tt.org, T two t.org.
There's links on the site tolearn about the overall impact of
T two T over the years and aboutthe evolution and the stories.

(36:00):
We've talked about a lot of, Ithink, powerful ways in terms of.
How you've quantified the impact.
You know, you've built 200 smart homes,we've got 60 more coming this year.
The, the price of those, Ithink, you know, when I, yeah,
600, when I do that
math in my head, you guysare working hard to raise.
That's a lot of money you have to raiseto, to fulfill that mission and to,
and to do it well the way that you do.

(36:22):
Are there any other facts or data pointsthat you think would be helpful for our
audience to know as they make choicesabout how they can best support you?
No, I mean if they, if they wanna be aspecific donation to a specific program
that could be just sent in a letter withtheir check and say, I wanna help build
a smart home, or I wanna pay off a.
A firefighter's, a mortgage forthe family, something like that.

(36:45):
That's more than welcome.
A lot of times people that haveknow a, a smart home or a mortgage
payoff is happening in their area.
They wanna make sure thattheir money goes to that Yeah.
Person.
Or you know, maybe somebody intheir neighborhood that they
knew and they wanna make sure.
They have some kind ofimpact with that person.
So that, and that's, that makes sense.
Easily done with their check.

(37:06):
Okay.
We're gonna be wrapping this up, butwe're gonna play a little game with you.
But one, one final question for youis, I think I know the answer to this.
What, what's a typicalday look like for Jack Om?
I mean, there's not 25 hours ina day, so we can't go down that.
Path, but it's, it probably
gets more out of his days than what we do.
But I bet your
speak, your speakingengagements are plenty, right?

(37:29):
Sure.
How many do you have a year?
I
would say anywhere from, well, Imean, if you count, they also do
nine 11 tours of the uh, nine 11museum and memorial in New York.
Oh, wow.
So just in December aloneI did eight of those.
Wow.
So, and every month fluctuatesbecause we raise money by raffling
north tours of the nine 11 museum.

(37:52):
Usually if I can't make it, there'sanother captain or battalion chief that
I, I get to fill in for my, my spot.
But I would say, you know,60, 70, 80 times a year.
I'm speaking, I'm, I'm flyingdown to Vero Beach in April.
I'm flying out to Pittsburgh in May,and these are just, I'm just doing
PowerPoint presentations on nine 11.

(38:14):
And, and speaking onbehalf of the foundation.
And then as one, tomorrow night,I'm speaking for 20 minutes in
front of a rotary club, so, youknow, they, they vary A typical day.
I'm very, I'm German.
I don't know if you could tell disciplinedin my approach to, to how I live my life.
You know, I, I get up atfive o'clock every morning.

(38:35):
I work out for two hours.
If I come to the foundation, I'mhere by eight o'clock in the morning.
You know, and I start my day ifI'm traveling, I do the same thing.
If I have to be at, at a golf addingat eight o'clock in the morning, I'm
at the gym at four o'clock in themorning just so I can get my workout in.
So I, I, I love to work out.
I got hurt a few times.
I had to retire from the firedepartment, a job that I would never

(38:58):
wanna retire from, and I had to retire.
But, you know, it always worked out.
Always part of me.
And, you know, a day without800 pushups is, is a bad day.
I'm having a lot of bad days.
Then I might need you to just starttexting me at five to say, yep.
So are you, it's time.
Get up,
you're at the gym every morning.

(39:19):
Well, I used to, beforeCovid, I was at the gym.
Now it's in my basement.
And if, if I feel real motivated,go and and do the sta master at
the gym a couple times a week.
Yeah.
I think his, his day is, it's a habit.
Once you get into that habit.
I know if, if I don't wake up at five.
I feel like a lazy, lazy person.
Person, day person.
Once in a while.

(39:39):
Don't get me wrong, I havea lazy day once in a while.
More, more than that.
I know there's only one Jack Gomes, buthow many Jack Gomes are there at T two T?
How many?
How many are there?
There's a lot of Jack Goms here.
Anybody that works here,you're not working here for the
money you're working here for.
'cause you have passion forthe foundation for what we do

(40:00):
for the people we take care of.
So, you know, I think there's a lot ofpeople out there like me that work here.
Yeah.
At the foundation,
they have to have that in their DNA.
So here's another quote you canuse that you can give me credit.
Sure.
Like, and, and your daughterwon't be mad at you anymore.
But if, if you love what you do,you never work a day in your life.
I. A hundred percent.

(40:21):
Right.
You've heard that before.
Maybe something to that iteration of that,
I mean Yeah.
In the fire department is,is is example number one.
It has to be
right.
You know, when we, when thebell rang, we were excited to go
out the door to help somebody.
Yeah.
And I'm excited to go out and, and speak.
It's not the same, it's notthe same with journaling.

(40:42):
A rush.
It's not the same excitement.
But it, it is a rush going out andspeaking on behalf of the foundation.
Yeah.
So it's not as good as going to a fire andhelping somebody and, and saving a life.
But it's probably the next best,best thing that you could go.
We should all be so lucky tofind that kind of of passion.

(41:04):
Yes, yes, for sure.
Before we, we wrap up and Tom's alreadyforeshadowed the, the super fun game.
We're going find you, you might know
the answer to the question, see?
Yeah.
Well, you've, we might change your mind.
Yeah.
Is there, yeah, you can wait Jack.
Okay.
Is, is there anything else elseat all though, that you'd wanna
share about the foundation beforewe shift into the military minute?
I wanna, you know, is there, arethere things that we might have not

(41:27):
even thought to ask that you'd wannamake sure our audience heard today?
So talking about the evolution, whichwe did and, and seeing a grow from
a tiny grassroots, really Mom andpop was Frank Silla and Secretary
Terry Maki, who's still here with us.
It was only those two in the beginning.

(41:48):
And to see it grow to over 300 employeesand to see what we did in 2002 to
what we're doing now in 2025, amazing.
It's amazing, right?
So if you're ever out there andyou wanna solve a problem, but
it might be too big for you, nowsolve a smaller problem at first.
Things have a way of growing and becomingbigger and bigger and better and better.

(42:13):
And I think that's a perfectexample of what this foundation did.
I think so there's a lot of likenuggets of life lessons in this podcast.
Someday
we should, we should invite him to dosome sort of like morning huddle for
us just to motivate and inspire us.
Yeah,
as long as it doesn't include 104flights of stairs, no pushups, no
800 pushups and no 800 pushups.

(42:33):
One, one handed pushup against.
Yeah.
No, no, I, I thinkthat's, well, well said.
And so now it is time.
We are not gonna delay it anymorebecause I know you're very, very
excited to play the military minute.
This is, we'll say an endearinglittle trivia game that Tom and I
rather like on our last episode, wehad someone from Excelsior University

(42:56):
and so we had a two part question.
Jack, have you heard ofExcelsior University?
Oh yeah.
It's there in New York.
Righto.
Where are they?
It's up in your neck of the woods, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
You look great.
Yeah.
Yep, yep.
Our guest, we, so in honor of ourguest, we had a two-part question.
We don't often do a twofer, but wedid, and so the, so the questions were
in what year did Excelsior Collegechange to Excelsior University?

(43:19):
And the second part was, whatdoes Excelsior mean in Latin?
So, I mean, that thatmight not be a a fact.
Everybody carries around in their head.
So I'm gonna just assume, 'cause Ididn't even know until I read this that
we might not know the answers to these.
So, for our audience that played alongwhen our last podcast dropped, if
you answered that, Excelsior Collegechanged to Excelsior University in 2022.

(43:42):
That Excelsior in Latinmeans ever upwards.
Well, good for you.
You watch for your name.
Feel smart, good for Google,feel good for you and Google.
Watch for your name to be posted asour lucky winner of $50 for you and
$50 to a charity of your choice.
Choice.
You might choose to give all 100 hereto T two T on T two t.org, but today's

(44:04):
military meant you can't answer this one.
'cause I'm pretty sure you would.
I don't, if you don't know this,then we got a different problem.
He might know it.
He's gonna know this, butthis one's for our audience.
This week's military a minute isactually a question about Jack.
Jack was a student athlete atwhat university and in what
sport did he participate?
I. Enter the Jeopardy music.
Right?
So if you, if you knowJack, Jack knows that's

(44:28):
so every, yeah, yeah, yeah.
So watch for this podcast to drop.
And when it does, if you knowthe answer or you can find the
answer, give us your best guess.
And you too could be a luckywinner of $50 for you and $50
for a charity of your choice.
I think if they listened throughoutthe podcast, they would've, they
probably would pick up on some clues.
They could have gotten the two answers.
Yeah.
So, hit rewind

(44:49):
and listen
again.
It's another two-parter too, wasn't it?
Kind of, yeah.
Yeah, kinda.
Thank you for joining us today, Jack.
My pleasure.
If you enjoyed today's episode, go outto af bank.com and subscribe to the show.
Also, make sure to rate us, leaveus a comment on your favorite
podcast platform, such as ApplePodcast, Spotify, and YouTube.

(45:10):
I expected nothing less thanspectacular from Jack was.
This was wonderful.
I, it was awesome.
It was
very wonderful to meet you and Iappreciate you sharing this, your story
and the story of those you've touchedand that of the organization today.
My pleasure, folks.
Thank you for having me, andI look forward to hearing this
podcast and making fun of myself.

(45:35):
Copyright Armed Forces BankMember, FDIC, equal Housing Lender.
All non Armed Forces bank owned apps,websites, company names, and product
names are trademarks or registeredtrademarks of their respective owners.
They're mentioned does not implyany affiliation with or endorsement
by Armed Forces Bank of themor their products and services.
They're merely used as examples of themany available apps, companies, and
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Before using any app or website, youshould carefully review the terms
of use data collection and privacypolicy apps may have an initial cost

(45:55):
or in application purchase features.
This information is generalnature and is not intended to be
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Although Armed Forces Bank believesthis information to be accurate, it
cannot ensure that it could change.
Statements or opinions of individualsreferenced herein are their own
not Armed Forces Bank consultant.
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(46:16):
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