From Fox News · Alex Nitzberg · · 1m 30s
He ran through a tunnel and never came home
Twenty-five years on, Stephen Siller's family walked the same tunnel he ran through with 60 pounds on his back.
In brief
Twenty-five years on, Stephen Siller's family walked the same tunnel he ran through with 60 pounds on his back. One firefighter's last run became a foundation that has given away hundreds of mortgage-free homes, which is how a family turned grief into a daily habit of helping. Originally reported by Fox News.
The walk they made on Friday
Frank Siller and his family retraced his brother Stephen's final route through the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel on the 25th anniversary of the attacks.
“Together, they carried Stephen's memory, his legacy, and the promise that his sacrifice, like so many others, would Never Be Forgotten”
Off shift, then gone
Stephen had just finished an overnight FDNY shift and was headed to play golf with his brothers when his scanner carried news of the towers. He turned the car around.
Sixty pounds on foot
His unit had already responded and the tunnel was closed to traffic. He strapped on his gear and ran through on foot toward the Twin Towers. He was 34, a husband and a father.
“Stephen, like so many others that day, never came home.”
A beam that crossed the country
A 21-foot, 16,900-pound piece of World Trade Center steel traveled more than 10,500 miles over four and a half months, stopping in nearly 40 places across 21 states.
The son who never knew him
Stephen Siller Jr. was nine months old when his father died. He now works on the foundation built in his father's name.
“Every day we're helping somebody in his name. That is such a beautiful, beautiful gift.”
What the mission does now
The foundation gives mortgage-free homes to Gold Star and fallen first responder families, builds adapted smart homes for catastrophically injured veterans, and pays for the kids' college or trade school.
In short
One firefighter's last run became a foundation that has given away hundreds of mortgage-free homes, which is how a family turned grief into a daily habit of helping.
