August 24, 2021 • 34 mins
Twenty years ago, on September 11, 2001, our world changed forever. Stephen Siller, a young firefighter from Staten Island was one of thousands of lives lost while trying to save others from the collapsing twin towers. Afterward, his family, lead by brother, Frank Siller, started the Tunnel to Towers Foundation with the mission to pay off the mortgages of fallen first responders, easing the financial burden of loved ones left behind. Since that time, they've expanded their scope to encompass families of all first responders who don't make it home, and are building some of the most advanced "smart" homes for mortally wounded military personnel. It's their way of honoring their brother's life and by taking the advice of St. Francis, "Brothers and sisters, while you have time, do good." This is a powerful, moving, podcast episode on the eve of the 20th anniversary of 9/11. Prepare your hearts. ~ Delilah
Podcast host: Delilah, Executive Producer: DeAnna Luke, Audio Producer: Leisa Wells
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Twenty years ago, twenty two decades ago. This September eleven,
nearly three thousand lives were lost in the coordinated attacks
upon the World Trade Center, New York City, the Pentagon
in Washington, d C. And in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where hijacked
United Airlines Flight nine crashed after passengers sacrificed their own
(00:28):
lives to prevent the terrorists from carrying out their larger mission.
On this day, New York City firefighter Stephen Siller ran
with other first responders through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel to
the Twin Tours, where he gave his life saving others.
Since that day, Stephen's brother, Frank Siller, has made it
(00:51):
his mission to provide mortgage free homes to gold star
and fallen first responder families with young children, and to
build custom designed smart homes for catastrophically injured veterans and
first responders, as a way of honoring his little brother's
sacrifice and all who gave their lives for us. On
(01:14):
September eleventh, two thousand and one, Frank founded the Tunnel
Two Towers Foundation Tunnel because his brother Stephen ran through
the tunnel to the towers. He founded the organization in
two thousand and one, and he has served as chairman,
which is an unpaid volunteer position since its inception. It's
(01:37):
his whole life mission. It supports America's heroes in their
families and helps our nation to keep its commitment to
never forget. This is going to be a powerful and
moving episode of Loves Someone. I suggest you settle in,
grab some tissue, prepare yourself for some strong emotional responses.
I am honored to hear Frank's story and to help
(01:58):
him share it with all of the We will be
speaking with Frank Siller, founder of Tunnel two Towers next.
Right now, I want to give some well deserved credit
to one of my amazing podcast sponsors who make this
very conversation possible. This podcast is sponsored by Better Help,
(02:20):
a company set up to help people. It's not a
crisis line or self help group, but a group of
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(03:26):
million people have taken charge of their mental health with
Better Help. So welcome Frank to Love Someone. We chose
the name of this podcast love Someone because that's my
daily mission is to share real love in a dark world.
And boy, have you been doing that In honor of
(03:50):
your brother for twenty years now. Tunnels to Towers is
the name of your organization to honor Stephen, your brother
who paid the ultimate price. No greater love is there
than this that you would lay down your life for
a friend and he laid down his for complete strangers.
(04:11):
So tell me about your brother and how that inspired
you to birth this organization. Well, you know we have
I have to go back to when my brother was
a little boy. Really for people to understand the unbelovable
loss that we had as a family. On September eleven,
two thousand and one. So Stephen was the youngest of
seven kids. My mother was forty I was forty five
(04:33):
when she gave birth to my brother Stephen. Did she
think she was done? Like had she like put all
the toddler toys away, given them out at garage sales
and was moving on fourteen years earlier because I was
closest in age and I'm fourteen years older than Stephen,
So he really was a surprise. No, he was a miracle.
(04:55):
He was a little angel. He was a little miracle.
And uh, he was just like the more of the family.
It's just really very close. You know. My mother had
six kids by the time she was thirty, and then
she had him almost, like I said, forty five. And
then so when he was eight and a half, my
father died and a year and a half later my
mom died. So at ten years old, he was really
(05:16):
often although he was blessed that he had much older siblings.
My brother Russ was twenty five years older than Stephen,
and uh, like I said, I was the closest in
age of fourteen years older, so I was in my twenties.
My brother Russ was in his thirties when my parents died,
so we raised him primarily my brother Russ Rockfell Sentiment,
(05:37):
Long Island, but Stephen was born and raised on Staaten
Island until he was ten years old and then was
out in Rockfell Center. So he had a very early
age realized that every day was precious, life was very precious.
And then he you know, grows up, comes back to
State night and lives at me for a short period time,
(05:58):
gets reintroduced who a girl who used to walk to
school with it when he was in the like second, third,
fourth grade. You know, they fall in love, they get married.
I mean, it's just it's it's a fairy tale, and
they get married, they have five beautiful kids. Oh my word,
he's on top of the world. He's on top of
the world. He becomes a firefighter at age seven. He's
(06:19):
got everything to live for. And then he's finished his
night tour. On September elevens, two thousand and one, is
on his way home to play golf with my brother Rush,
my brother George, myself and him. The four brothers were
going to play golf. He is on the radio scanner
that the towers were hit. Goes back to his firehouse,
gets his gear, goes to the mouth of the Brooklyn
(06:41):
Battery Tunnel, where it's closed for security reasons. That tunnel
is almost two miles long. He strapped sixty pounds of
five year on his back and runs through that tunnel,
comes out the other side, goes up West Street, goes
into what we believe the South Tower because he was
never recovered, but he lost the eleven firefighter brothers that
he were with that day. They were all in the
(07:02):
South Tower and Uh goes up those stairs and all
saving people, he gives up his life. So we were
just overcome with emotion, obviously just on the day itself,
but then finding out what he did. We knew that
we had to do something as a family to honor
and respect not only what Stephen did that day, but
(07:22):
so many heroes did that day. And that's why we
started the Tunnel to Towers Foundation in honor of all
those who perish, but most certainly my brother. Oh. I
can tell you shared this story many times because you
do it without hesitation. Well, it's a story I've been
sharing for twenty years and look, our mission is pretty clear.
(07:46):
It's very simple. We want to make sure we never forget.
That's the number one mission, and we do a lot
of beautiful things. We'll get to that, but the first
mission is to never forget once again, not just Stephen,
but all the two thousand, nine seventy seven souls that
died that day. The second is to honor them, and
we honor them by doing good. And doing good is
(08:10):
something that we've been living by. My parents were Franciscans.
San Francis said, brothers and sisters, while you have time,
let us do good. And that is very simple, and
that's our model that we live by. Let us do good.
That's all the Foundation wants to do good. And we
do good by taking care of the greatest of all Americans,
those Delilah who are willing to die for you and
(08:33):
for me. And that's what we did. We take care
of the families that are left behind, and then we
celebrate their lives. We have to celebrate their lives because
they don't want us to be said. They want us
to enjoy life the best that you can, because you'll
have bad days. But we want to enjoy life the
best you can, but you want to celebrate what they
did and their lives, and you can only do that
(08:54):
in the joyous way, and we do that all the time.
We have a big run every year in September we
emulate what Stephen did, his final heroic footsteps. We have
forty people run through that tunnel, thousands of firefighters, thousands
of police office running the turnout here, thousands of military
rucket you know, they put their backpacks on phill it rocks,
(09:16):
you name it. They fill it. They want that weight,
they want that challenge, they want to respect what was
done that day. It is just so moving. You come
out of the Brooklyn Battery tunnel and when you run
through it, it's almost, like I said, almost two miles long.
When you come out, we have pictures of every five
fighter and police officers that died that thing. When you
come out of the tunnel, that's what you see. We're
(09:37):
all lined up. We put a face to a number,
and it's very important that these great Americans are aren't forgotten.
So that's what you do. You come there. But at
the end I called the Miracle the Lows. We feed
all these thirty people and we have a music festival
we're honoring them in a beautiful family way, and it's
(09:57):
just the most patriotic day and event you can pass.
So yeah, less but not least on that day. We
have west points to debt that running cadence through that
tunnel and that chanting, and they're running with a lot
of the catastrophically agied service members that we built specially
adopted mortgage free smart homes for and they're going through
and they it's just I can't so that the cadets
(10:20):
are in cadence with the wounded warriors, with the most
catastrophically aged service members. That's what we built for the
most catastrophically aged service members, double triple, quadruple empetees, quadriplegic paraplegics,
and they're going through the tunnel to absolutely we had
a quadruple MPT Todd nicely second quadruple empathy ever survived
(10:44):
in the battlefield. He's out of St. Louis. He puts
on his prosthetics. By the way, it takes him about
an hour to get ready in the morning, just to
get out of bed, but he puts on all four
his proscetics. He does the run. He runs through that tunnel,
and it's it's just incredible. A lot of them have
to be in wheelchairs. People have helped, you know, we
push them, you know, through on their wheelchairs. Whatever others
(11:06):
do us a bite, whatever it may be. We have
so many catastrophically agi of service members that do it.
And yes, West Point that's are guarding them. It's like
an honor God. They run alongside of them and they're
chanting and they say, it's just so uplifting, it's incredible.
Have you made a movie or a documentary just about that. Documentaries, Yes,
(11:28):
we have just that picture you just painted alone of
these young fresh faced cadets. Yes, in uniform, I'm guessing,
or in fatigues. Yeah, they're you know the tees. Yes,
it's incredible. I mean just just that mental image right
now is breaking my heart in such a good way. Well, now,
(11:53):
then they go down the West Point of Debts, go
down to ground zero, and the commandant or superintendent they
go there and they and they go to ground zero
right there, and they talk about the importance of why
they're serving their country and they say, you know, hey,
look at those guys that you just ran with, you know,
look at the sacrifice they made. And you're willing to
(12:14):
sign up and do that because we're all volunteer military.
We were blessed in this country that we have Americans
are willing to stand up and protect us. It's incredible.
So it's just the whole day is very emotional, but
it's so beautiful and so uplifting too because, like I said,
my brother ran through that tunnel, but he came out
the other side. Now he came out the other side
(12:35):
to help. So as a family, we chose that when
we go through our tunnel, our sadness or despair, the
loss of our little brother and of so many others.
I lost a lot of friends that say, besides, and
we have to come through that tone come out the
other side, and we have to help. And that's what
(12:55):
our foundation does. We want to make sure we take
care of these families because not what's what he serves
and could be a military, it could be a police officer,
could be a firefighter, law enforcement union. When somebody serves,
the whole family serves. Yeah, amen to that. My My
oldest son is a police officer and his whole family.
(13:16):
He has four kids and a wife that's been by
his side through thick and thin through the tunnels of
life for you know, almost two decades now and they
all pay the price, they all served. They all it's
not a job, it's a life, it's a calling. So tunnels,
the Talas Foundation and the people listening, they can go
(13:39):
to t the number two, T dot org T the
number two and T dot org Tunnels to towers is
what it stands for. Right, and we asked people donate
as little as eleven dollars a month. But listen, this
is our promise in our contract. We when we want
people to join us on our mission that when these
great American heroes go serve the community or their country,
(14:01):
right and they give their kids a kiss goodbye and
they don't come home, we want to deliver them a
mortgage free home. So if they have a mortgage three
hundred thousand dollar mortgage, whatever it is, four to fifty,
whatever it is, we want to pay that mortgage off.
Because that should be the promise that we have as
Americans to these families that if they're willing to protect
(14:22):
us and willing to die for us, and when that happens,
because it does happen, that we're going to take care
of their families and that's all promised as a foundation
that we're going to take care every every first responder
in America that dies in the line of duty that
leaves a young family behind. And we've been doing that,
but we only do because people go and join us
on a mission, donate as littles eleven dollars a month.
(14:44):
You know, many hands makes light work, and that's why
we count on many people to join us. How many
people do you think participate in the runs that happen
every year, Well, just two or three hundred people. And
I'm and some runs have six seven thousand, but our
run has forty thou so, uh, you know, so hundreds
(15:07):
of thousands of people. But we have stair climbs, we
have golf outings, we have events that people put on
for us all over America because they want to join us.
Because you know what, here's the thing. We're four stall rating.
That's the highs you can get. We're a hundred transparency
and last year in we just did our tax return,
we're ninety five cents of every dollar goes to our programs.
(15:28):
I don't get paid, my siblings don't get paid. We
have tens of thousands of volunteers we deliver. We don't
just say we deliver it so people could see where
their money goes. So you see this picture here, it's
with forty eight Medal of Honor recipients, forty eight of them.
They sent it to me. It's a beautiful picture. Of course,
(15:49):
my picture of me and my wife and my six grandchildren.
That's the most important picture to me. Uh And portraits
of people that have sacrificed. It's all about family for us,
but it's also about a country. We're going to take
a break right now. We're talking with the gentleman who
started the Tunnels to Tower organization charity project, and we
(16:13):
will come right back and talk a little bit more
about your heart, about your passion, and about ways that
people can get involved. This podcast episode is all about
an organization that provides help and hope to some very
deserving recipients. Not unlike today's sponsor Mercy Ships. Mercy Ship
(16:35):
sends floating hospitals to some of the poorest countries in
the world with the crew of medical professionals that provide
free life changing surgeries to some very grateful patients. They
are sustained entirely by the generosity of volunteers and donors
just like you. You can help in three ways. You
(16:56):
can give, you can go, and you can pray. And
more about the organization volunteer opportunities and how to make
a donation by visiting Mercy ships dot org slash love.
That's Mercy Ships dot org slash love. We are back,
and I'm kind of quiet today. I'm kind of subdued
(17:18):
because when we open this podcast, you were describing what
Stephen did one eleven running through the tunnel, and my
podcast producer sent me all the information beforehand, so I
knew that I get like that all the time. So
(17:39):
you're very genuine and I and I appreciate it, and uh,
it is heartbreaking, but it is so inspiring what my
brother did, and that he inspired us to be better,
not better. That's amazing because if that were my little brother,
I don't know that I wouldn't be a little bit better. No,
(18:00):
I was better. I can't tell you I wasn't. That
being said, I know that he doesn't want us to
be said. We want to do good in this world
and and then most certainly for our country, so that
that's what we focus on. What a gift of peace
that must be for thousands of people, and it is
thousands and yes. And I call almost every single widow
(18:23):
myself and I talked to them. Over the last twenty years.
I've learned how to speak to somebody who is grieving
and such an unbelievable loss. And I I almost every
one of them. I say, Tom, do you believe in
life after death? No one said no to me, be
(18:43):
quite frank with you, and they say, yes, I do,
and I and then I changed and I said, no,
I'm not talking about for your husband. I'm talking about
for you. Is life after death for you? And you
have to realize that the best way to honor somebody.
And I'm not telling anybody had to grieve and how
to get through things, not doing that, but I think
the best way to honor somebody is to have a full,
(19:06):
good life, live a good life. And they have to
realize and in the beginning, of course, you just can't
even get out of bed, almost in the beginning, But
then when they realize that people care, that's important. And
I think that that's a message that we bring to
these widows, well widow, is that people care. They don't
know me, that we're somebody that they didn't even know.
(19:28):
And here we are saying we're gonna pay off your
mortgage and you're gonna be able to stay in the
house that you were making all the memories with your
husband and your kids and you can stay there. And
that's a tremendous burden lift off that family, tremendous financial work.
Because we all know the biggest expense we all have
right is our mortgage and that it's done. So what
(19:51):
does that do That enables some of these families with
the mother or father can stay home and or work
part times a full time, two jobs or whatever to
pay mortgage and two and to feed your kids. Yeah,
it's hard enough to lose one parent, and like you said,
if the parent left behind then has to assume that
(20:13):
financial obligation. You lose two parents. Yes, you lose the
parent who passed on and you lose the parent who
has now gone, you know, eighteen hours a day trying
to provide. So you're right, you're you're giving those kids
mom or dad, whoever is left behind, You're giving them
them more fully. And how did I mean, how did
(20:35):
this come to you? Like you're grieving you lost your
baby brother. He was never recovered so now you've got
grief on top of grief. I lost a brother in
an airplane accident. We didn't have the body, we didn't
have the remains, we didn't know what happened for years.
So I know that compounded grief of not having that closure.
(20:59):
How long after you lost Stephen, Frank, did you go
you know what I could do? This I could help
I could help impact the lives of families like Stevens.
Walk me through that process. How God imparted that upon
your heart? The truth is we've been guided the whole way.
(21:19):
Albeit we did decide very early on. I remember talking
to my sister in law, and this is only weeks
after my brother was gone. I said, I think we
should start a foundation to honor what Stephen did and
help kids. Why not help, you know, these kids that
are left behind when they died in the line of duty.
So that's when we first thought it. But I'm gonna
tell you we were doing a lot. But in two
(21:42):
thousand and ten, the first ever quadruple amputee that ever
survived any war was from where Stephen was born where
I was born, in stan Island, New York, and I
went down to visit him and Walter Reid Army Medical Centers.
Name is Sawgeant Brenda Morocco, and I was down there.
I was talking to him, and I said, Brenda, kind
the tunnels, the tower was foundation, build you a mortgage
(22:03):
free home. And he accepted, and we've delivered June eleventh,
two thousand and eleven. So it was almost on the
tenth anniversaries, three months of the tenth anniversary nine eleven.
So we were doing a lot, you know, raising a
million dollars a year, seven hundred thousand dollars or whatever
up it to that point. But now we built this house,
had raised the coast over seven hundred thousand dollars to
(22:25):
build this house in the New York area. I don't
have to tell you that. And um, we put all
this small technology in it. And then there was two
more quadruple emputees right away that survived. And we said, well,
we built for Brendon, we have to build for these
two guys. So I'm down to Walter read all the time.
We meet more and more, so it ends up being
five quaduble amputees. But there's thirty eight triple amputees. I
(22:49):
was visiting, So I said on the anniversary the tenth
Anniversity nine eleven, we had a small concert. We told
stories of nine eleven. We told some stories of different families.
We didn't even tell my brother's story. We told other
people's stories, right, And I was on the stage giving
a few words, and I said, look, we're building these
houses for troople emputees. There's thirty eight triple emputees. And said,
(23:11):
now we're going to build these thirty eight houses for
tree blamp. Out of your mouth came that commitment. And
then you're like, oh, wait a minute. I said it
out loud, and I do that all the time, Delilah.
That's what I learned in life. Say it out loud,
and you have to complete it. So I said it
out loud that day my sisters, and what, oh my god,
what's he throwing up there? You know, because to fathom
(23:34):
that is millions of dollars. But I know God takes
care of us because we're so pure that what we're
doing is so pure. I know they would attract people
to us that can help us build these houses. I
had the utmost confidence, and we have. We built so
many of these smart homes all over the country. But
that's how we started with smart homes. But I'm gonna
tell you how we started with paying off the mortgages
(23:57):
for police officers and first responders. December twenty of two
thousand and fourteen, New York City, there was two police
officers sitting in their car and somebody come up out
of Baltimore and they thought it was all right to
kilicopters because they had a blue uniform up and it
came out and assassinate him sitting in their cup just
Bom detectors Loo and detectives ramas you probably remember it.
(24:20):
It was, yeah. So I went and visited the family
on Christmas Eve. We went there and we heard that
they were concerned about their mortgages and how they're gonna
stay in the house. Bees. These were the read winners
of the family, and we said, we're gonna pay off
your mortgage. We raised enough money in ten days not
(24:41):
only pay off the mortgage, but we remodeled their homes.
So I saw the difference did that make? And I said,
you know what, we gotta do this now for all
police officers and first responders. So we took on that commitment,
and you know what, because more and more people join us.
Once again t the number two t dot org sty
is a tunnel two towers t the number two T
(25:04):
dot org. They donate eleven dollars a month. We're able
to take care of these families, but I need a
lot more. My hope is and I pray for this.
You know that we had a million people join us
on this mission. We could take care of every police officer,
every firefighter, every first respond to, every military personnel that
dies online of duty. And it leave young kids behind
(25:27):
every year, forever, forever. That's Frank. My show has never
been and never will be political. I will never take
a political stand because my I want my show to
be inclusive and I don't want anyone to ever feel
that they don't belong. And that was just the point
(25:47):
I was going to make. The beautiful thing about what
you're doing is if you if you have an ounce
of gratitude in your heart for the country that we
of in the lifestyles we've been blessed with the freedoms
we enjoy, saying thank you in a tangible way. It's
(26:09):
one thing, you know. I always walk up whenever I
see anybody in uniform, anybody, firefighter, police officer, military person.
I always try to walk over and say thank you.
I appreciate the sacrifices you make, and that might hopefully
touch their heart for a minute. But if you truly
(26:29):
want to put your love in action, and you truly
want to say thank you, what a beautiful way to
do it. Two cups of coffee a month I drink,
you know, I drink dirty chai latte is about once
a week. I don't drink coffee. I'm a tea drinker.
But about once a week I might treat myself and
(26:50):
go through a coffee stand. And if I decided not
to do that, that would be about twenty bucks a month.
Bucks a month that I could easily and never even
miss never you never miss it. And and people can
watch when we delivered these house, they could say I
(27:11):
was part of that. It's that's how the beauty of it.
I helped give this military guys family who died for
our country a votygage free home. Or I helped this
firefighter who ran up a building and fell through a
floor and died left kids behind. I helped pay their mortgage.
(27:33):
Speaking of kids, how are Steven's kids? You said he
had five there, They're great kids, the great individuals so
we're blessing that. But listen, they were fortunate, they were
surrounded by a lot of love. On My sister in
law's family is phenomenal, and they've stepped up. They've just
been terrific. And you know, as far as our family
is concerned, with such pain, the asses, you couldn't get
(27:55):
rid of us, even if even if you so, you know,
we said to say we knew the routine because we
know that. You know, when Stephen went through when he
was a little boy. Now now his kids have to
go through that. But how many lives has your brother's
life in the sacrifice he made impacted. I I agree
(28:17):
with you. It's incredible. And one day he'll he will
be joined with a lot of special people, there's no
question about it. In the meantime, we got a whole
lot of living to do and a whole lot of
houses to build. Exactly, So T the number two T tunnel,
two towers dot org. But you go to T the
number two T dot org, T the number two T
(28:41):
dot org. All right, Well, hopefully many many people will say,
you know what, I don't need that coffee. I'm gonna
donate eleven dollars a month or maybe they'll say I
lost my brother, I lost my sister, I lost my mom,
and the their their memory. I'm going to donate my
coffee every week, but I'm gonna also step up and
donate one for mom or dad. Think how many houses
(29:04):
we could build in we I'm already a part of it.
We like it. I like the way you're saying that,
but that's exactly what I want. I want everyone to
take ownership and say we delivered this house. That's what
I want. It is not about just my brother, It's
about the people we help. And if everybody comes together,
(29:25):
we as a contry, we can take care of the
greatest of all Americans. Here. Here's the thing. I think
a lot of people feel helpless right now watching things
go on around us that are just mind boggling, and
a lot of us feel frustrated because we are powerless
(29:45):
to do anything. But by doing this, by joining your efforts,
by making a donation, by getting involved, by doing the runs,
by sponsoring a run, how many people listening to my
voice and say you know what I do that I
could organize twenty of my best friends and we could
do a nine eleven run, and we could raise money.
(30:08):
We could ask for pledges, we could get our kids involved.
We could have our kids do uh an obstacle course
at the farm, and we could raise money. They could
get pledges and we could donate that too, tunnel to
towers and impact the lives of our first responders. It's
a it's a really sweet way to feel empowered to
(30:32):
make a difference, and it's a great way to get
your family two as kids that don't even know about
what happened on nine eleven, it's a dautiful thing everything.
And look, kids are magnificent. You give them an opportunity
to do something good, they're gonna do it. But they
only take the lead from their parents. And as parents,
we better make sure and grandparents that we set a
(30:54):
good example, that we take care of the people that
give us this country. As you said earlier, Delilah, right
we live in this great country is because we are
beautiful people that protect us, that give us this way
of life. And it comes a price with that and
price in some cases are paid by the ultimate sacrifice.
And we better take care of these families. It's that simple.
(31:15):
T the number two T dot org go there now.
As soon as you finished listening to this podcast t
the number two t dot org and be a blessing
and impact someone's lives. Thank you, thank you, Thank you, Frank.
Thank you for being here with us. Thank you. It
was beautiful. Hopefully we do this again one day, all right,
(31:35):
thank you night. Twenty years ago seems like a long time,
but for those who were there, for those who lost
their loved ones, their friends, their co workers, their neighbors,
or their brother, that day is vivid and wrong. For
America and for the world, our trust in our fellow
man was shaken. Frank and those who worked tirelessly to
(31:56):
support not only not only the first responders families from
nine eleven, but our military and our first responders today
are doing their part to revive our trust and goodness
and hope, because while we will never forget the tragedies
of nine eleven, we also must never stop believing that
(32:18):
love wins. Frank sat down with me just before he
embarked upon his commemorative never Forget Walk, a five hundred
mile journey that will see him trekking through six states
in six weeks time. He kicked it off on August
one at the Pentagon in Washington, d C. And is
now twenty four days into his mission that will also
(32:41):
take him through Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and will end up at
Ground Zero in New York City on September eleven. He'll
be joined by gold Star and Fallen first responder family members,
nine eleven family members, firefighters, law enforcement, veterans, dignitaries, and
others along the route. In the final segment on nine
(33:02):
eleven one, Frank will retrace his brother's footsteps as he
raced towards the Towers twenty years ago. I am so
grateful to Frank and those like him who take it
upon themselves to do good. When we first started the conversation,
he said he wants to do good. You can to
(33:24):
learn more about Tunnel to Towers Foundation t the number
two t T two t dot org followed Tunnel to
Towers on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram at Tunnel two Towers. Thank
you for taking the time to be with us today
as we told Stephen's story. Join me here on Love
Someone next time, and on the air each and every night.
(33:47):
You know, I'm on the air every night right where
I do my best to shine a light of love
into dark corners to soothe some aching hearts. And to
ask you to remind you to reach out and love
some den I love
Twenty years ago, twenty two decades ago. This September eleven,
nearly three thousand lives were lost in the coordinated attacks
upon the World Trade Center, New York City, the Pentagon
in Washington, d C. And in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where hijacked
United Airlines Flight nine crashed after passengers sacrificed their own
(00:28):
lives to prevent the terrorists from carrying out their larger mission.
On this day, New York City firefighter Stephen Siller ran
with other first responders through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel to
the Twin Tours, where he gave his life saving others.
Since that day, Stephen's brother, Frank Siller, has made it
(00:51):
his mission to provide mortgage free homes to gold star
and fallen first responder families with young children, and to
build custom designed smart homes for catastrophically injured veterans and
first responders, as a way of honoring his little brother's
sacrifice and all who gave their lives for us. On
(01:14):
September eleventh, two thousand and one, Frank founded the Tunnel
Two Towers Foundation Tunnel because his brother Stephen ran through
the tunnel to the towers. He founded the organization in
two thousand and one, and he has served as chairman,
which is an unpaid volunteer position since its inception. It's
(01:37):
his whole life mission. It supports America's heroes in their
families and helps our nation to keep its commitment to
never forget. This is going to be a powerful and
moving episode of Loves Someone. I suggest you settle in,
grab some tissue, prepare yourself for some strong emotional responses.
I am honored to hear Frank's story and to help
(01:58):
him share it with all of the We will be
speaking with Frank Siller, founder of Tunnel two Towers next.
Right now, I want to give some well deserved credit
to one of my amazing podcast sponsors who make this
very conversation possible. This podcast is sponsored by Better Help,
(02:20):
a company set up to help people. It's not a
crisis line or self help group, but a group of
professionals who provide counseling that's done securely online. They make
it possible for you to talk with them from the
comfort of your own home or office. You don't have
to limit yourself to counselors near you, and it's much
(02:42):
more affordable than traditional counseling with financial aid available. Better
Help matches you with licensed professionals that specialize in everything
from depression, distress, family conflict, trauma, grief, to self esteem
and much more. Everything is confidential and it's easy to
(03:03):
make appointments via video or phone. They can help you
start living a happier life today. Received ten percent off
your first month by visiting better Help dot com. Slash
Love Someone. That's b E T T E r h
E l P dot com slash love Someone. Over one
(03:26):
million people have taken charge of their mental health with
Better Help. So welcome Frank to Love Someone. We chose
the name of this podcast love Someone because that's my
daily mission is to share real love in a dark world.
And boy, have you been doing that In honor of
(03:50):
your brother for twenty years now. Tunnels to Towers is
the name of your organization to honor Stephen, your brother
who paid the ultimate price. No greater love is there
than this that you would lay down your life for
a friend and he laid down his for complete strangers.
(04:11):
So tell me about your brother and how that inspired
you to birth this organization. Well, you know we have
I have to go back to when my brother was
a little boy. Really for people to understand the unbelovable
loss that we had as a family. On September eleven,
two thousand and one. So Stephen was the youngest of
seven kids. My mother was forty I was forty five
(04:33):
when she gave birth to my brother Stephen. Did she
think she was done? Like had she like put all
the toddler toys away, given them out at garage sales
and was moving on fourteen years earlier because I was
closest in age and I'm fourteen years older than Stephen,
So he really was a surprise. No, he was a miracle.
(04:55):
He was a little angel. He was a little miracle.
And uh, he was just like the more of the family.
It's just really very close. You know. My mother had
six kids by the time she was thirty, and then
she had him almost, like I said, forty five. And
then so when he was eight and a half, my
father died and a year and a half later my
mom died. So at ten years old, he was really
(05:16):
often although he was blessed that he had much older siblings.
My brother Russ was twenty five years older than Stephen,
and uh, like I said, I was the closest in
age of fourteen years older, so I was in my twenties.
My brother Russ was in his thirties when my parents died,
so we raised him primarily my brother Russ Rockfell Sentiment,
(05:37):
Long Island, but Stephen was born and raised on Staaten
Island until he was ten years old and then was
out in Rockfell Center. So he had a very early
age realized that every day was precious, life was very precious.
And then he you know, grows up, comes back to
State night and lives at me for a short period time,
(05:58):
gets reintroduced who a girl who used to walk to
school with it when he was in the like second, third,
fourth grade. You know, they fall in love, they get married.
I mean, it's just it's it's a fairy tale, and
they get married, they have five beautiful kids. Oh my word,
he's on top of the world. He's on top of
the world. He becomes a firefighter at age seven. He's
(06:19):
got everything to live for. And then he's finished his
night tour. On September elevens, two thousand and one, is
on his way home to play golf with my brother Rush,
my brother George, myself and him. The four brothers were
going to play golf. He is on the radio scanner
that the towers were hit. Goes back to his firehouse,
gets his gear, goes to the mouth of the Brooklyn
(06:41):
Battery Tunnel, where it's closed for security reasons. That tunnel
is almost two miles long. He strapped sixty pounds of
five year on his back and runs through that tunnel,
comes out the other side, goes up West Street, goes
into what we believe the South Tower because he was
never recovered, but he lost the eleven firefighter brothers that
he were with that day. They were all in the
(07:02):
South Tower and Uh goes up those stairs and all
saving people, he gives up his life. So we were
just overcome with emotion, obviously just on the day itself,
but then finding out what he did. We knew that
we had to do something as a family to honor
and respect not only what Stephen did that day, but
(07:22):
so many heroes did that day. And that's why we
started the Tunnel to Towers Foundation in honor of all
those who perish, but most certainly my brother. Oh. I
can tell you shared this story many times because you
do it without hesitation. Well, it's a story I've been
sharing for twenty years and look, our mission is pretty clear.
(07:46):
It's very simple. We want to make sure we never forget.
That's the number one mission, and we do a lot
of beautiful things. We'll get to that, but the first
mission is to never forget once again, not just Stephen,
but all the two thousand, nine seventy seven souls that
died that day. The second is to honor them, and
we honor them by doing good. And doing good is
(08:10):
something that we've been living by. My parents were Franciscans.
San Francis said, brothers and sisters, while you have time,
let us do good. And that is very simple, and
that's our model that we live by. Let us do good.
That's all the Foundation wants to do good. And we
do good by taking care of the greatest of all Americans,
those Delilah who are willing to die for you and
(08:33):
for me. And that's what we did. We take care
of the families that are left behind, and then we
celebrate their lives. We have to celebrate their lives because
they don't want us to be said. They want us
to enjoy life the best that you can, because you'll
have bad days. But we want to enjoy life the
best you can, but you want to celebrate what they
did and their lives, and you can only do that
(08:54):
in the joyous way, and we do that all the time.
We have a big run every year in September we
emulate what Stephen did, his final heroic footsteps. We have
forty people run through that tunnel, thousands of firefighters, thousands
of police office running the turnout here, thousands of military
rucket you know, they put their backpacks on phill it rocks,
(09:16):
you name it. They fill it. They want that weight,
they want that challenge, they want to respect what was
done that day. It is just so moving. You come
out of the Brooklyn Battery tunnel and when you run
through it, it's almost, like I said, almost two miles long.
When you come out, we have pictures of every five
fighter and police officers that died that thing. When you
come out of the tunnel, that's what you see. We're
(09:37):
all lined up. We put a face to a number,
and it's very important that these great Americans are aren't forgotten.
So that's what you do. You come there. But at
the end I called the Miracle the Lows. We feed
all these thirty people and we have a music festival
we're honoring them in a beautiful family way, and it's
(09:57):
just the most patriotic day and event you can pass.
So yeah, less but not least on that day. We
have west points to debt that running cadence through that
tunnel and that chanting, and they're running with a lot
of the catastrophically agied service members that we built specially
adopted mortgage free smart homes for and they're going through
and they it's just I can't so that the cadets
(10:20):
are in cadence with the wounded warriors, with the most
catastrophically aged service members. That's what we built for the
most catastrophically aged service members, double triple, quadruple empetees, quadriplegic paraplegics,
and they're going through the tunnel to absolutely we had
a quadruple MPT Todd nicely second quadruple empathy ever survived
(10:44):
in the battlefield. He's out of St. Louis. He puts
on his prosthetics. By the way, it takes him about
an hour to get ready in the morning, just to
get out of bed, but he puts on all four
his proscetics. He does the run. He runs through that tunnel,
and it's it's just incredible. A lot of them have
to be in wheelchairs. People have helped, you know, we
push them, you know, through on their wheelchairs. Whatever others
(11:06):
do us a bite, whatever it may be. We have
so many catastrophically agi of service members that do it.
And yes, West Point that's are guarding them. It's like
an honor God. They run alongside of them and they're
chanting and they say, it's just so uplifting, it's incredible.
Have you made a movie or a documentary just about that. Documentaries, Yes,
(11:28):
we have just that picture you just painted alone of
these young fresh faced cadets. Yes, in uniform, I'm guessing,
or in fatigues. Yeah, they're you know the tees. Yes,
it's incredible. I mean just just that mental image right
now is breaking my heart in such a good way. Well, now,
(11:53):
then they go down the West Point of Debts, go
down to ground zero, and the commandant or superintendent they
go there and they and they go to ground zero
right there, and they talk about the importance of why
they're serving their country and they say, you know, hey,
look at those guys that you just ran with, you know,
look at the sacrifice they made. And you're willing to
(12:14):
sign up and do that because we're all volunteer military.
We were blessed in this country that we have Americans
are willing to stand up and protect us. It's incredible.
So it's just the whole day is very emotional, but
it's so beautiful and so uplifting too because, like I said,
my brother ran through that tunnel, but he came out
the other side. Now he came out the other side
(12:35):
to help. So as a family, we chose that when
we go through our tunnel, our sadness or despair, the
loss of our little brother and of so many others.
I lost a lot of friends that say, besides, and
we have to come through that tone come out the
other side, and we have to help. And that's what
(12:55):
our foundation does. We want to make sure we take
care of these families because not what's what he serves
and could be a military, it could be a police officer,
could be a firefighter, law enforcement union. When somebody serves,
the whole family serves. Yeah, amen to that. My My
oldest son is a police officer and his whole family.
(13:16):
He has four kids and a wife that's been by
his side through thick and thin through the tunnels of
life for you know, almost two decades now and they
all pay the price, they all served. They all it's
not a job, it's a life, it's a calling. So tunnels,
the Talas Foundation and the people listening, they can go
(13:39):
to t the number two, T dot org T the
number two and T dot org Tunnels to towers is
what it stands for. Right, and we asked people donate
as little as eleven dollars a month. But listen, this
is our promise in our contract. We when we want
people to join us on our mission that when these
great American heroes go serve the community or their country,
(14:01):
right and they give their kids a kiss goodbye and
they don't come home, we want to deliver them a
mortgage free home. So if they have a mortgage three
hundred thousand dollar mortgage, whatever it is, four to fifty,
whatever it is, we want to pay that mortgage off.
Because that should be the promise that we have as
Americans to these families that if they're willing to protect
(14:22):
us and willing to die for us, and when that happens,
because it does happen, that we're going to take care
of their families and that's all promised as a foundation
that we're going to take care every every first responder
in America that dies in the line of duty that
leaves a young family behind. And we've been doing that,
but we only do because people go and join us
on a mission, donate as littles eleven dollars a month.
(14:44):
You know, many hands makes light work, and that's why
we count on many people to join us. How many
people do you think participate in the runs that happen
every year, Well, just two or three hundred people. And
I'm and some runs have six seven thousand, but our
run has forty thou so, uh, you know, so hundreds
(15:07):
of thousands of people. But we have stair climbs, we
have golf outings, we have events that people put on
for us all over America because they want to join us.
Because you know what, here's the thing. We're four stall rating.
That's the highs you can get. We're a hundred transparency
and last year in we just did our tax return,
we're ninety five cents of every dollar goes to our programs.
(15:28):
I don't get paid, my siblings don't get paid. We
have tens of thousands of volunteers we deliver. We don't
just say we deliver it so people could see where
their money goes. So you see this picture here, it's
with forty eight Medal of Honor recipients, forty eight of them.
They sent it to me. It's a beautiful picture. Of course,
(15:49):
my picture of me and my wife and my six grandchildren.
That's the most important picture to me. Uh And portraits
of people that have sacrificed. It's all about family for us,
but it's also about a country. We're going to take
a break right now. We're talking with the gentleman who
started the Tunnels to Tower organization charity project, and we
(16:13):
will come right back and talk a little bit more
about your heart, about your passion, and about ways that
people can get involved. This podcast episode is all about
an organization that provides help and hope to some very
deserving recipients. Not unlike today's sponsor Mercy Ships. Mercy Ship
(16:35):
sends floating hospitals to some of the poorest countries in
the world with the crew of medical professionals that provide
free life changing surgeries to some very grateful patients. They
are sustained entirely by the generosity of volunteers and donors
just like you. You can help in three ways. You
(16:56):
can give, you can go, and you can pray. And
more about the organization volunteer opportunities and how to make
a donation by visiting Mercy ships dot org slash love.
That's Mercy Ships dot org slash love. We are back,
and I'm kind of quiet today. I'm kind of subdued
(17:18):
because when we open this podcast, you were describing what
Stephen did one eleven running through the tunnel, and my
podcast producer sent me all the information beforehand, so I
knew that I get like that all the time. So
(17:39):
you're very genuine and I and I appreciate it, and uh,
it is heartbreaking, but it is so inspiring what my
brother did, and that he inspired us to be better,
not better. That's amazing because if that were my little brother,
I don't know that I wouldn't be a little bit better. No,
(18:00):
I was better. I can't tell you I wasn't. That
being said, I know that he doesn't want us to
be said. We want to do good in this world
and and then most certainly for our country, so that
that's what we focus on. What a gift of peace
that must be for thousands of people, and it is
thousands and yes. And I call almost every single widow
(18:23):
myself and I talked to them. Over the last twenty years.
I've learned how to speak to somebody who is grieving
and such an unbelievable loss. And I I almost every
one of them. I say, Tom, do you believe in
life after death? No one said no to me, be
(18:43):
quite frank with you, and they say, yes, I do,
and I and then I changed and I said, no,
I'm not talking about for your husband. I'm talking about
for you. Is life after death for you? And you
have to realize that the best way to honor somebody.
And I'm not telling anybody had to grieve and how
to get through things, not doing that, but I think
the best way to honor somebody is to have a full,
(19:06):
good life, live a good life. And they have to
realize and in the beginning, of course, you just can't
even get out of bed, almost in the beginning, But
then when they realize that people care, that's important. And
I think that that's a message that we bring to
these widows, well widow, is that people care. They don't
know me, that we're somebody that they didn't even know.
(19:28):
And here we are saying we're gonna pay off your
mortgage and you're gonna be able to stay in the
house that you were making all the memories with your
husband and your kids and you can stay there. And
that's a tremendous burden lift off that family, tremendous financial work.
Because we all know the biggest expense we all have
right is our mortgage and that it's done. So what
(19:51):
does that do That enables some of these families with
the mother or father can stay home and or work
part times a full time, two jobs or whatever to
pay mortgage and two and to feed your kids. Yeah,
it's hard enough to lose one parent, and like you said,
if the parent left behind then has to assume that
(20:13):
financial obligation. You lose two parents. Yes, you lose the
parent who passed on and you lose the parent who
has now gone, you know, eighteen hours a day trying
to provide. So you're right, you're you're giving those kids
mom or dad, whoever is left behind, You're giving them
them more fully. And how did I mean, how did
(20:35):
this come to you? Like you're grieving you lost your
baby brother. He was never recovered so now you've got
grief on top of grief. I lost a brother in
an airplane accident. We didn't have the body, we didn't
have the remains, we didn't know what happened for years.
So I know that compounded grief of not having that closure.
(20:59):
How long after you lost Stephen, Frank, did you go
you know what I could do? This I could help
I could help impact the lives of families like Stevens.
Walk me through that process. How God imparted that upon
your heart? The truth is we've been guided the whole way.
(21:19):
Albeit we did decide very early on. I remember talking
to my sister in law, and this is only weeks
after my brother was gone. I said, I think we
should start a foundation to honor what Stephen did and
help kids. Why not help, you know, these kids that
are left behind when they died in the line of duty.
So that's when we first thought it. But I'm gonna
tell you we were doing a lot. But in two
(21:42):
thousand and ten, the first ever quadruple amputee that ever
survived any war was from where Stephen was born where
I was born, in stan Island, New York, and I
went down to visit him and Walter Reid Army Medical Centers.
Name is Sawgeant Brenda Morocco, and I was down there.
I was talking to him, and I said, Brenda, kind
the tunnels, the tower was foundation, build you a mortgage
(22:03):
free home. And he accepted, and we've delivered June eleventh,
two thousand and eleven. So it was almost on the
tenth anniversaries, three months of the tenth anniversary nine eleven.
So we were doing a lot, you know, raising a
million dollars a year, seven hundred thousand dollars or whatever
up it to that point. But now we built this house,
had raised the coast over seven hundred thousand dollars to
(22:25):
build this house in the New York area. I don't
have to tell you that. And um, we put all
this small technology in it. And then there was two
more quadruple emputees right away that survived. And we said, well,
we built for Brendon, we have to build for these
two guys. So I'm down to Walter read all the time.
We meet more and more, so it ends up being
five quaduble amputees. But there's thirty eight triple amputees. I
(22:49):
was visiting, So I said on the anniversary the tenth
Anniversity nine eleven, we had a small concert. We told
stories of nine eleven. We told some stories of different families.
We didn't even tell my brother's story. We told other
people's stories, right, And I was on the stage giving
a few words, and I said, look, we're building these
houses for troople emputees. There's thirty eight triple emputees. And said,
(23:11):
now we're going to build these thirty eight houses for
tree blamp. Out of your mouth came that commitment. And
then you're like, oh, wait a minute. I said it
out loud, and I do that all the time, Delilah.
That's what I learned in life. Say it out loud,
and you have to complete it. So I said it
out loud that day my sisters, and what, oh my god,
what's he throwing up there? You know, because to fathom
(23:34):
that is millions of dollars. But I know God takes
care of us because we're so pure that what we're
doing is so pure. I know they would attract people
to us that can help us build these houses. I
had the utmost confidence, and we have. We built so
many of these smart homes all over the country. But
that's how we started with smart homes. But I'm gonna
tell you how we started with paying off the mortgages
(23:57):
for police officers and first responders. December twenty of two
thousand and fourteen, New York City, there was two police
officers sitting in their car and somebody come up out
of Baltimore and they thought it was all right to
kilicopters because they had a blue uniform up and it
came out and assassinate him sitting in their cup just
Bom detectors Loo and detectives ramas you probably remember it.
(24:20):
It was, yeah. So I went and visited the family
on Christmas Eve. We went there and we heard that
they were concerned about their mortgages and how they're gonna
stay in the house. Bees. These were the read winners
of the family, and we said, we're gonna pay off
your mortgage. We raised enough money in ten days not
(24:41):
only pay off the mortgage, but we remodeled their homes.
So I saw the difference did that make? And I said,
you know what, we gotta do this now for all
police officers and first responders. So we took on that commitment,
and you know what, because more and more people join us.
Once again t the number two t dot org sty
is a tunnel two towers t the number two T
(25:04):
dot org. They donate eleven dollars a month. We're able
to take care of these families, but I need a
lot more. My hope is and I pray for this.
You know that we had a million people join us
on this mission. We could take care of every police officer,
every firefighter, every first respond to, every military personnel that
dies online of duty. And it leave young kids behind
(25:27):
every year, forever, forever. That's Frank. My show has never
been and never will be political. I will never take
a political stand because my I want my show to
be inclusive and I don't want anyone to ever feel
that they don't belong. And that was just the point
(25:47):
I was going to make. The beautiful thing about what
you're doing is if you if you have an ounce
of gratitude in your heart for the country that we
of in the lifestyles we've been blessed with the freedoms
we enjoy, saying thank you in a tangible way. It's
(26:09):
one thing, you know. I always walk up whenever I
see anybody in uniform, anybody, firefighter, police officer, military person.
I always try to walk over and say thank you.
I appreciate the sacrifices you make, and that might hopefully
touch their heart for a minute. But if you truly
(26:29):
want to put your love in action, and you truly
want to say thank you, what a beautiful way to
do it. Two cups of coffee a month I drink,
you know, I drink dirty chai latte is about once
a week. I don't drink coffee. I'm a tea drinker.
But about once a week I might treat myself and
(26:50):
go through a coffee stand. And if I decided not
to do that, that would be about twenty bucks a month.
Bucks a month that I could easily and never even
miss never you never miss it. And and people can
watch when we delivered these house, they could say I
(27:11):
was part of that. It's that's how the beauty of it.
I helped give this military guys family who died for
our country a votygage free home. Or I helped this
firefighter who ran up a building and fell through a
floor and died left kids behind. I helped pay their mortgage.
(27:33):
Speaking of kids, how are Steven's kids? You said he
had five there, They're great kids, the great individuals so
we're blessing that. But listen, they were fortunate, they were
surrounded by a lot of love. On My sister in
law's family is phenomenal, and they've stepped up. They've just
been terrific. And you know, as far as our family
is concerned, with such pain, the asses, you couldn't get
(27:55):
rid of us, even if even if you so, you know,
we said to say we knew the routine because we
know that. You know, when Stephen went through when he
was a little boy. Now now his kids have to
go through that. But how many lives has your brother's
life in the sacrifice he made impacted. I I agree
(28:17):
with you. It's incredible. And one day he'll he will
be joined with a lot of special people, there's no
question about it. In the meantime, we got a whole
lot of living to do and a whole lot of
houses to build. Exactly, So T the number two T tunnel,
two towers dot org. But you go to T the
number two T dot org, T the number two T
(28:41):
dot org. All right, Well, hopefully many many people will say,
you know what, I don't need that coffee. I'm gonna
donate eleven dollars a month or maybe they'll say I
lost my brother, I lost my sister, I lost my mom,
and the their their memory. I'm going to donate my
coffee every week, but I'm gonna also step up and
donate one for mom or dad. Think how many houses
(29:04):
we could build in we I'm already a part of it.
We like it. I like the way you're saying that,
but that's exactly what I want. I want everyone to
take ownership and say we delivered this house. That's what
I want. It is not about just my brother, It's
about the people we help. And if everybody comes together,
(29:25):
we as a contry, we can take care of the
greatest of all Americans. Here. Here's the thing. I think
a lot of people feel helpless right now watching things
go on around us that are just mind boggling, and
a lot of us feel frustrated because we are powerless
(29:45):
to do anything. But by doing this, by joining your efforts,
by making a donation, by getting involved, by doing the runs,
by sponsoring a run, how many people listening to my
voice and say you know what I do that I
could organize twenty of my best friends and we could
do a nine eleven run, and we could raise money.
(30:08):
We could ask for pledges, we could get our kids involved.
We could have our kids do uh an obstacle course
at the farm, and we could raise money. They could
get pledges and we could donate that too, tunnel to
towers and impact the lives of our first responders. It's
a it's a really sweet way to feel empowered to
(30:32):
make a difference, and it's a great way to get
your family two as kids that don't even know about
what happened on nine eleven, it's a dautiful thing everything.
And look, kids are magnificent. You give them an opportunity
to do something good, they're gonna do it. But they
only take the lead from their parents. And as parents,
we better make sure and grandparents that we set a
(30:54):
good example, that we take care of the people that
give us this country. As you said earlier, Delilah, right
we live in this great country is because we are
beautiful people that protect us, that give us this way
of life. And it comes a price with that and
price in some cases are paid by the ultimate sacrifice.
And we better take care of these families. It's that simple.
(31:15):
T the number two T dot org go there now.
As soon as you finished listening to this podcast t
the number two t dot org and be a blessing
and impact someone's lives. Thank you, thank you, Thank you, Frank.
Thank you for being here with us. Thank you. It
was beautiful. Hopefully we do this again one day, all right,
(31:35):
thank you night. Twenty years ago seems like a long time,
but for those who were there, for those who lost
their loved ones, their friends, their co workers, their neighbors,
or their brother, that day is vivid and wrong. For
America and for the world, our trust in our fellow
man was shaken. Frank and those who worked tirelessly to
(31:56):
support not only not only the first responders families from
nine eleven, but our military and our first responders today
are doing their part to revive our trust and goodness
and hope, because while we will never forget the tragedies
of nine eleven, we also must never stop believing that
(32:18):
love wins. Frank sat down with me just before he
embarked upon his commemorative never Forget Walk, a five hundred
mile journey that will see him trekking through six states
in six weeks time. He kicked it off on August
one at the Pentagon in Washington, d C. And is
now twenty four days into his mission that will also
(32:41):
take him through Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and will end up at
Ground Zero in New York City on September eleven. He'll
be joined by gold Star and Fallen first responder family members,
nine eleven family members, firefighters, law enforcement, veterans, dignitaries, and
others along the route. In the final segment on nine
(33:02):
eleven one, Frank will retrace his brother's footsteps as he
raced towards the Towers twenty years ago. I am so
grateful to Frank and those like him who take it
upon themselves to do good. When we first started the conversation,
he said he wants to do good. You can to
(33:24):
learn more about Tunnel to Towers Foundation t the number
two t T two t dot org followed Tunnel to
Towers on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram at Tunnel two Towers. Thank
you for taking the time to be with us today
as we told Stephen's story. Join me here on Love
Someone next time, and on the air each and every night.
(33:47):
You know, I'm on the air every night right where
I do my best to shine a light of love
into dark corners to soothe some aching hearts. And to
ask you to remind you to reach out and love
some den I love
Host
Delilah
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