Emotions ran high among the crowd as they gathered before the start of the 3.43-mile Tunnel to Towers Run and heard the haunting sound of bagpipes leading in an honor guard and first responders, their coats’ reflective stripes glimmering in the early morning sun.
The 3.43-mile Tunnel to Towers event honors the memory of Stephen Siller and all the first responders who selflessly gave their lives to save others on September 11, 2001. Siller had just finished his shift as a firefighter that tragic day, assigned to Brooklyn’s Squad 1, when he learned that a plane had hit the first World Trade Center tower. With the entrance to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel closed to cars, Siller raced – Tunnel to Towers – on foot; his 60 pounds of gear strapped to his back.
“The 10-, 15- and 20-year anniversaries are always a little more special, but to me, coming from New York, it’s always special. It should be something we honor and continue to pay tribute to every year,” said Jack Oehm, Battalion Commander, FDNY (Ret.), who lost 20 men on 9/11.
“This is a wonderful event,” said Dan Richey, who in 2012 was instrumental in first bringing the run to Vero Beach. “It shows the compassion this town has.”
Proceeds benefit the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation and its Building for America’s Bravest program, which builds custom-designed smart homes for service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with catastrophic injuries. A home in Cape Coral was scheduled to be dedicated the next day, Sept. 11. It’s another fitting tribute to all who were lost as well as those others who continue to make sacrifices every day in the line of duty, carrying on the promise –
We Will Never Forget.