(upbeat music) - We now welcome Frank Siller, who is the chairman and Chief Executive Officer of a terrific organization called Tunnel to Towers.

The website is up.

Frank, it's an honor to have you with us.

- Thank you for having me on Steve, it means a lot.

Anytime I get an opportunity to talk about my brother, you know, his sacrifice he made and about the foundation so people can join us on our mission, it's a great opportunity.

So thank you for doing this.

- Talk about your brother Steven, talk about the tragedy of his death, the hero that he was, and the name Tunnel to Towers please.

- Well, you know, my brother was a New York City firefighter.

He was married, he was a father of five.

He was the youngest of seven children himself.

He was our little brother and he was just finished his night tour on Squad One in Brooklyn, which is an elite fire house for firefighters who train to save other firefighters and to be in very intense situations.

Well, he was just finished his night tour.

He was on his way home to play golf.

My brother George, my brother Russ and myself, the four brothers were gonna play a round of golf, which we didn't always get an opportunity to do that.

So we were really looking forward to the day.

But you know, you know, he heard on his radio scanner that the towers were hit.

He turned his truck around, went back to his firehouse, got his gear, drove through the mouth of the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, was closed for security reasons.

So he was faced a decision and what do our first responders do?

What do our military do all the time as they run towards danger, and that's exactly what he did.

He strapped his 60 pounds of gear on his back and ran through the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, which is almost two miles long as most New Yorkers know that.

And up West Street and to what we believe the South Tower.

And went up those stairs and while saving others, gave up his life.

And when we found out what he did, you know, as a family, we wanted to honor his sacrifice and the sacrifice of all these great heroes that day.

And that's why we started the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.

- Tunnel for Towers helped so many family members of those who've given their life in the name of service.

What are you doing for those families and how can people find out more as the website is up, please Frank?

- Well, you know, so our foundation was doing many things, but in 2009 when the first quadruple amputee that ever survived (indistinct) war was from Staten Island where Stephen was born.

Where I was born, our family grew up.

We found out that this young man survived losing four limbs.

I went down to visit him at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

And while I was down there, I asked him if we could build him a home.

And he humbly accepted.

And as we were building it, we realized we had to put in all the technology to give him back some of his independence.

He lost four limbs, you know, he needed a lot of smart technology in that home.

And while we were doing it, I said, we have to do this for every catastrophically injured service member in America.

And that's what we've been doing.

We delivered the first one, June 11th, 2011.

And we've done hundreds and hundreds of them, you know, since.

And then in 2014, December 20th actually is coming up on 20 years.

- We're this program right before that.

Go ahead, I'm sorry Frank.

- In 2014 when detectives Lou and Ramos were assassinated in the car just 'cause they wore a blue uniform, we found out they were worried about their mortgages.

And on Christmas Eve I visited their homes and told them that the Tunnel to Towers Foundation were gonna pay off their mortgages.

So now we do that for every first responder in America.

Every single one, but that's how it was born.

- How the heck do you raise that kind of money, Frank, to have such an extraordinary impact for people and their families?

- We do it at $11 at a time, we do it $11 a time.

Go to T2T.org, $11 a month, $11 a month.

You could change these guys' lives and these families' lives that are left behind that made the ultimate sacrifice for protecting us.

And we do it for Gold Star families as well.

You know, veterans or service members that go out and die for us and they leave a young family behind, we're gonna make sure they have a mortgage free home.

And we do, you know, hundreds of them every year, over 1500 so far.

And we're increasing our numbers every year.

And now, you know, Steve, I'm sure you know this, but we made a promise in 2022, we're gonna eradicate homelessness amongst our veterans.

And I use that word eradicate 'cause it's a strong word.

It tells exactly what our goal is, is to eradicate.

No veteran should be on the street after serving our country.

And you know, they couldn't assimilate, you know, couldn't go back into society for whatever reason.

It doesn't matter, we need to take care of them, get them off the street, get a roof over their head, and then get them all the comprehensive services they're gonna need to assimilate back into society.

- I was watching a Yankee game and the Tunnel to Towers connected to the Yankees and the Mets in New York.

But I was watching Yankee game and the spot came up and I had seen it 20 times, 30 times.

And I said, you're just sitting here watching this and being moved by it but doing nothing.

And so like thousands and thousands of others, do the $11 again, Frank, remind people.

- $11 a month, go to T2T.org, T the number two T.org stands for Tunnel to Towers obviously.

And it's $11 a month, most people can do that.

And that's why we ask for, we're 9/11 Foundation.

You know, we're born from my brother's sacrifice, $11 a month, and you know, we have so many people that have joined us on that.

And that's why we keep this promise that we're gonna pay off every mortgage in America.

If you die for us, we're gonna take care of your family left behind you die in the line of duty.

- Frank, the annual 5K run held every September, it retraces your brother Steven steps on 9/11.

It started out on 2002, 1100 participants.

There are over 30,000 participants now.

- No, 40,000, it's over 40,000, in the rain this year.

It's always the last Sunday in September.

But here's the thing Steve and I want people to understand this.

That run is so much more than just a run about my brother.

It's about my brother to me.

You know, because that's why we started it.

But we have 1000 teams, 1000 teams that put their own family.

Some of them are 9/11 families.

Some are Gold Star families, some are fallen first responders have died since 9/11.

A lot of them died of 9/11 illnesses.

And we honor them all, we honor them all.

'Cause we are about never forgetting, always remembering the sacrifice that is made, just not on 9/11, the sacrifice that's made every single day since 9/11.

And that's what we do with this annual run every year.

And it's very spectacular.

2,500 West Point cadets running cadence.

We feed them all.

I call it the miracle of the loaves and fishes.

I get all my firefighter buddies on the street.

We have hamburgers, hot dogs, spare ribs, you name it, we do it because we want to celebrate their lives.

We wanna remember, but we want to celebrate their lives as well.

- Frank Siller, Chairman and CEO of an extraordinary organization, Tunnel to Towers.

Go on the website, find out more.

Frank, you honor us as I said before, we wish you all the best and you have an open invitation.

All the best, my friend, thank you.

- Thank you Steve, God bless.

- You got it, same to you.

Stay with us, we'll be right back.

- [Narrator] One-On-One with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

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