VERO BEACH — It is difficult to believe that it has been 13 years since the worst terrorist attack on American soil. More than 3,000 lives were lost on Sept. 11, 2001, including 343 firefighters.
One of those firefighters, Stephen Siller, had just come off his shift and was getting ready to play golf with his brothers when he heard the news about a plane crashing into the World Trade Center. He went back to the firehouse, grabbed his gear and drove his truck to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, but it was already closed. He strapped 60 pounds of gear to his back and rushed on foot through gridlocked traffic from the tunnel to the towers, where he gave up his life saving others.
Last Saturday morning, nearly 400 people showed up at Riverside Park, practically before the sun came up, for the third annual Vero Beach Tunnel to Towers Run. Firefighter families established the inaugural New York City Tunnel to Towers Run in 2012 to memorialize Siller and others who sacrificed their lives by running toward the danger.
After a solemn ceremony that included a color guard, the mournful wail of bagpipes, and a stirring rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, 393 runners took off on a 3.43 mile running race throughout Riverside Park. The 92 percent humidity did not discourage the runners, many of whom ran in full firefighting gear weighing 60 pounds. Along the race course, sign posts were adorned with a photographs of every firefighter killed on 9/11.
Many teams, including the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office Swat Team and the Indian River County Volunteer Firefighters, ran to commemorate the loss of lives on that tragic day. Other participants ran to immortalize firefighters who perished more recently.
Vero Beach resident Jeff Palleschi, a former firefighter from Taunton, MA, ran with the Crossfit Vero Beach Team.
“We ran it for a buddy of ours who was killed this past week in Taunton,” said Palleschi. “It is an awesome race.”
“I felt like giving up, but I saw the pictures of the firefighters and it made me keep going,” said Castaway Cove resident and Rosewood Magnet school teacher Karen Davis. “It was a bittersweet experience.”
The endorphins kicked in and the mood lifted as the runners took off on the 3.43 mile course, and were later greeted at the finish line with Beach Boys tunes and hugs.
Jack Oehm, a New York City Battalion Chief and a volunteer with the Stephen Siller Foundation, was running in full gear to remember Siller and his fellow firefighters.
“Seventy more firefighters have died after being involved in the clean-up, from cancer and emphysema, among other illnesses,” said Oehm.
The goal of the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation is to continue Stephen’s legacy by supporting our nation’s first responders and service members. Proceeds from Saturday’s race will go to Building for America’s Bravest, an organization that constructs specially adapted smart homes for catastrophically injured military service members.
Following the race, runners adjourned to the Riverside Park gazebos, where they replenished themselves with water, coffee, Natalie’s Orchid Island orange and grapefruit juice, bagels, bananas, and orange slices.