Stephen Siller’s Family Retraces His 9/11 Tunnel to Towers Run

On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, an off-duty firefighter with Brooklyn’s Squad 1 had just finished an overnight shift. He was on his way to play golf with his brothers when he heard that a plane had struck the World Trade Center.

Stephen Siller turned his truck around, returned to the firehouse to retrieve his gear, and drove to the entrance of the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel. The tunnel had been closed to all traffic for security purposes. So he strapped on roughly 60 pounds of gear and ran the rest of the way on foot. He ran through the tunnel and toward the towers.

Stephen never made it home. He was one of the 343 members of the Fire Department of New York killed on Sept 11, 2001.

That run, and that number, became the foundation of everything that followed. Twenty-five years later, the organization his family built in his name is marking the anniversary with its most symbolic efforts yet.

One Home for Each Firefighter Lost

The Tunnel to Towers Foundation says it will deliver 343 mortgage-free homes in 2026, one for each FDNY member killed on Sept. 11.

According to the foundation, recipients include Gold Star military families, catastrophically injured veterans and first responders, as well as families of first responders killed in the line of duty.

Its founder, Frank Siller, Stephen’s brother, decided that the families these heroes leave behind should always have a place to call home. Their help extends to families whose loved ones died in combat, in the line of duty, or later from injuries and illnesses tied to their service.

The 343-home effort is the anniversary centerpiece of a program that has grown steadily since the attacks. Over its history, the foundation says it has delivered more than 2,000 mortgage-free homes and committed more than $1 billion to support veterans, first responders and their families.

They made a commitment, one that is already underway. It announced 25 mortgage payoffs across 13 states around Memorial Day and another 30 homes for families of fallen first responders around Independence Day. Both were installments toward the year’s total of 343.

Steel Across America

The housing effort is part of a wider national commemoration the foundation launched for the milestone.

Its “Steel Across America” tour is carrying a steel beam recovered from the World Trade Center more than 10,500 miles, making 35 stops in 21 states, before returning to Ground Zero on Sept. 11. The beam has drawn crowds at each stop who pause to reflect and remember.

This week, the beam was displayed near the White House, where first responders gathered as part of events marking the anniversary.

“Never forgetting the sacrifice and bravery of our nation’s heroes, as well as our lost loved ones, is a generational promise that every American can help keep,” Frank Siller told Fox News Digital.

Taking a Toll

This year’s anniversary arrives at a moment in time that underscores why the foundation’s work continues. The consequences of the attacks have reached far beyond the nearly 3,000 people killed that day.

In the years since, thousands of responders have died from illnesses linked to their exposure at Ground Zero, and the World Trade Center Health Program continues to treat those who are sick, according to Reuters.

For the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, that ongoing toll is the point. The organization was built on the premise that the sacrifice did not end when the towers fell, and that the families left behind, whether their loved ones died that day or in the long aftermath, still carry the weight of it.

Credit: The U.S. ArmyRandall Clinton/Marine Corps Public Affairs Office New York/U.S. Marines, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Retracing the Run

On Sept. 11, the foundation plans to bring its story full circle. Members of the Siller family will retrace Stephen’s final route, through the tunnel now officially named the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel, toward the place where the towers stood. They will be accompanied through the tunnel by a piece of World Trade Center steel.

For Frank Siller’s family, the steel carries a particular meaning. Stephen’s body was never recovered. His son, who was an infant when his father died, has said the beam has become a way to stand close to him again.

The foundation will continue its remembrance later in the month with the 25th Tunnel to Towers 5K Run & Walk in New York on Sept. 27, an event that follows the same path Stephen Siller took on foot a quarter-century ago, from Brooklyn toward the towers.