Heroic firefighters were honored last Saturday morning as runners, including firefighters and SWAT team members in full gear, took part in the fourth annual Tunnel to Towers Vero Beach Run.
Unlike traditional 3.1-mile 5Ks, this 3.43-mile run memorializes the 343 firefighters who ran toward danger and perished on Sept. 11, 2001, along with 3,000 other victims of the terrorist attacks that horrific day.
The New York Tunnel to Towers Run, held the last Sunday in September was established as a tribute to firefighter Stephen Siller, who ran in full bunker gear through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel to the World Trade Center; he was one of 12 from his squad who died that day.
NYC Battalion Chief Jack Oehm, a volunteer with the Stephen Siller Foundation, spoke of real heroism on the part of 9-11 heroes and others like them, who daily put their lives on the line in service to their communities and their country, and the three American heroes who recently foiled a terror attack in France.
Proceeds from runs around the country are helping to rebuild the lives of combat veterans returning home from military service with life-altering injuries.
Photos by Denise Ritchie