WEBVTT - FRANK SILLER 0:00:04.160 --> 0:00:09.719 Twenty years ago, twenty two decades ago. This September eleven, 0:00:10.480 --> 0:00:14.080 nearly three thousand lives were lost in the coordinated attacks 0:00:14.160 --> 0:00:17.520 upon the World Trade Center, New York City, the Pentagon 0:00:17.600 --> 0:00:22.720 in Washington, d C. And in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where hijacked 0:00:22.800 --> 0:00:28.160 United Airlines Flight nine crashed after passengers sacrificed their own 0:00:28.240 --> 0:00:32.519 lives to prevent the terrorists from carrying out their larger mission. 0:00:33.400 --> 0:00:37.960 On this day, New York City firefighter Stephen Siller ran 0:00:38.280 --> 0:00:43.559 with other first responders through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel to 0:00:43.640 --> 0:00:47.159 the Twin Tours, where he gave his life saving others. 0:00:47.760 --> 0:00:51.159 Since that day, Stephen's brother, Frank Siller, has made it 0:00:51.400 --> 0:00:56.240 his mission to provide mortgage free homes to gold star 0:00:56.760 --> 0:01:00.920 and fallen first responder families with young children, and to 0:01:01.000 --> 0:01:06.160 build custom designed smart homes for catastrophically injured veterans and 0:01:06.360 --> 0:01:10.640 first responders, as a way of honoring his little brother's 0:01:10.640 --> 0:01:14.039 sacrifice and all who gave their lives for us. On 0:01:14.120 --> 0:01:18.800 September eleventh, two thousand and one, Frank founded the Tunnel 0:01:19.080 --> 0:01:24.479 Two Towers Foundation Tunnel because his brother Stephen ran through 0:01:24.520 --> 0:01:29.280 the tunnel to the towers. He founded the organization in 0:01:29.319 --> 0:01:32.640 two thousand and one, and he has served as chairman, 0:01:33.480 --> 0:01:37.680 which is an unpaid volunteer position since its inception. It's 0:01:37.720 --> 0:01:41.320 his whole life mission. It supports America's heroes in their 0:01:41.360 --> 0:01:43.800 families and helps our nation to keep its commitment to 0:01:43.920 --> 0:01:47.120 never forget. This is going to be a powerful and 0:01:47.160 --> 0:01:50.880 moving episode of Loves Someone. I suggest you settle in, 0:01:51.560 --> 0:01:55.480 grab some tissue, prepare yourself for some strong emotional responses. 0:01:56.000 --> 0:01:58.400 I am honored to hear Frank's story and to help 0:01:58.480 --> 0:02:01.160 him share it with all of the We will be 0:02:01.200 --> 0:02:06.760 speaking with Frank Siller, founder of Tunnel two Towers next. 0:02:07.280 --> 0:02:09.360 Right now, I want to give some well deserved credit 0:02:09.400 --> 0:02:13.160 to one of my amazing podcast sponsors who make this 0:02:13.360 --> 0:02:20.239 very conversation possible. This podcast is sponsored by Better Help, 0:02:20.680 --> 0:02:23.799 a company set up to help people. It's not a 0:02:23.840 --> 0:02:27.880 crisis line or self help group, but a group of 0:02:27.919 --> 0:02:33.639 professionals who provide counseling that's done securely online. 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That's b E T T E r h 0:03:21.720 --> 0:03:26.720 E l P dot com slash love Someone. Over one 0:03:26.800 --> 0:03:30.520 million people have taken charge of their mental health with 0:03:30.720 --> 0:03:37.280 Better Help. So welcome Frank to Love Someone. We chose 0:03:37.440 --> 0:03:41.800 the name of this podcast love Someone because that's my 0:03:41.960 --> 0:03:46.200 daily mission is to share real love in a dark world. 0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:50.200 And boy, have you been doing that In honor of 0:03:50.240 --> 0:03:55.120 your brother for twenty years now. Tunnels to Towers is 0:03:55.160 --> 0:03:59.760 the name of your organization to honor Stephen, your brother 0:04:00.800 --> 0:04:05.000 who paid the ultimate price. No greater love is there 0:04:05.040 --> 0:04:07.160 than this that you would lay down your life for 0:04:07.200 --> 0:04:11.160 a friend and he laid down his for complete strangers. 0:04:11.160 --> 0:04:14.760 So tell me about your brother and how that inspired 0:04:14.800 --> 0:04:19.000 you to birth this organization. Well, you know we have 0:04:19.080 --> 0:04:20.880 I have to go back to when my brother was 0:04:20.920 --> 0:04:24.800 a little boy. Really for people to understand the unbelovable 0:04:24.880 --> 0:04:26.919 loss that we had as a family. On September eleven, 0:04:26.920 --> 0:04:29.800 two thousand and one. So Stephen was the youngest of 0:04:29.839 --> 0:04:33.919 seven kids. My mother was forty I was forty five 0:04:33.960 --> 0:04:36.440 when she gave birth to my brother Stephen. Did she 0:04:36.520 --> 0:04:39.280 think she was done? Like had she like put all 0:04:39.279 --> 0:04:43.040 the toddler toys away, given them out at garage sales 0:04:43.279 --> 0:04:46.200 and was moving on fourteen years earlier because I was 0:04:46.279 --> 0:04:49.800 closest in age and I'm fourteen years older than Stephen, 0:04:50.120 --> 0:04:54.680 So he really was a surprise. No, he was a miracle. 0:04:55.000 --> 0:04:57.560 He was a little angel. He was a little miracle. 0:04:57.760 --> 0:05:00.640 And uh, he was just like the more of the family. 0:05:00.680 --> 0:05:03.200 It's just really very close. You know. My mother had 0:05:03.240 --> 0:05:04.880 six kids by the time she was thirty, and then 0:05:04.920 --> 0:05:07.719 she had him almost, like I said, forty five. And 0:05:07.760 --> 0:05:10.560 then so when he was eight and a half, my 0:05:10.680 --> 0:05:13.479 father died and a year and a half later my 0:05:13.520 --> 0:05:16.080 mom died. So at ten years old, he was really 0:05:16.160 --> 0:05:20.320 often although he was blessed that he had much older siblings. 0:05:20.360 --> 0:05:23.479 My brother Russ was twenty five years older than Stephen, 0:05:24.120 --> 0:05:26.360 and uh, like I said, I was the closest in 0:05:26.440 --> 0:05:29.440 age of fourteen years older, so I was in my twenties. 0:05:29.480 --> 0:05:32.560 My brother Russ was in his thirties when my parents died, 0:05:32.640 --> 0:05:37.400 so we raised him primarily my brother Russ Rockfell Sentiment, 0:05:37.480 --> 0:05:40.920 Long Island, but Stephen was born and raised on Staaten 0:05:41.000 --> 0:05:43.400 Island until he was ten years old and then was 0:05:43.400 --> 0:05:47.520 out in Rockfell Center. So he had a very early 0:05:47.600 --> 0:05:51.640 age realized that every day was precious, life was very precious. 0:05:51.880 --> 0:05:55.240 And then he you know, grows up, comes back to 0:05:55.279 --> 0:05:57.880 State night and lives at me for a short period time, 0:05:58.480 --> 0:06:01.440 gets reintroduced who a girl who used to walk to 0:06:01.520 --> 0:06:04.640 school with it when he was in the like second, third, 0:06:04.720 --> 0:06:07.839 fourth grade. You know, they fall in love, they get married. 0:06:07.839 --> 0:06:10.560 I mean, it's just it's it's a fairy tale, and 0:06:10.839 --> 0:06:13.720 they get married, they have five beautiful kids. Oh my word, 0:06:14.160 --> 0:06:16.120 he's on top of the world. He's on top of 0:06:16.160 --> 0:06:19.800 the world. He becomes a firefighter at age seven. He's 0:06:19.839 --> 0:06:24.159 got everything to live for. And then he's finished his 0:06:24.279 --> 0:06:27.120 night tour. On September elevens, two thousand and one, is 0:06:27.160 --> 0:06:29.080 on his way home to play golf with my brother Rush, 0:06:29.120 --> 0:06:31.720 my brother George, myself and him. The four brothers were 0:06:31.720 --> 0:06:34.280 going to play golf. He is on the radio scanner 0:06:34.360 --> 0:06:37.760 that the towers were hit. Goes back to his firehouse, 0:06:38.120 --> 0:06:41.040 gets his gear, goes to the mouth of the Brooklyn 0:06:41.040 --> 0:06:44.640 Battery Tunnel, where it's closed for security reasons. That tunnel 0:06:44.680 --> 0:06:47.400 is almost two miles long. He strapped sixty pounds of 0:06:47.440 --> 0:06:49.640 five year on his back and runs through that tunnel, 0:06:49.680 --> 0:06:54.360 comes out the other side, goes up West Street, goes 0:06:54.400 --> 0:06:56.640 into what we believe the South Tower because he was 0:06:56.680 --> 0:06:59.680 never recovered, but he lost the eleven firefighter brothers that 0:06:59.720 --> 0:07:02.039 he were with that day. They were all in the 0:07:02.120 --> 0:07:05.520 South Tower and Uh goes up those stairs and all 0:07:05.680 --> 0:07:09.040 saving people, he gives up his life. So we were 0:07:09.160 --> 0:07:13.520 just overcome with emotion, obviously just on the day itself, 0:07:13.680 --> 0:07:16.600 but then finding out what he did. We knew that 0:07:16.680 --> 0:07:18.880 we had to do something as a family to honor 0:07:18.960 --> 0:07:22.160 and respect not only what Stephen did that day, but 0:07:22.440 --> 0:07:25.200 so many heroes did that day. And that's why we 0:07:25.720 --> 0:07:30.200 started the Tunnel to Towers Foundation in honor of all 0:07:30.240 --> 0:07:35.040 those who perish, but most certainly my brother. Oh. I 0:07:35.040 --> 0:07:37.920 can tell you shared this story many times because you 0:07:38.000 --> 0:07:42.360 do it without hesitation. Well, it's a story I've been 0:07:42.360 --> 0:07:46.080 sharing for twenty years and look, our mission is pretty clear. 0:07:46.520 --> 0:07:50.440 It's very simple. We want to make sure we never forget. 0:07:50.680 --> 0:07:52.720 That's the number one mission, and we do a lot 0:07:52.720 --> 0:07:55.320 of beautiful things. We'll get to that, but the first 0:07:55.360 --> 0:07:58.760 mission is to never forget once again, not just Stephen, 0:07:58.800 --> 0:08:01.720 but all the two thousand, nine seventy seven souls that 0:08:01.800 --> 0:08:06.240 died that day. The second is to honor them, and 0:08:06.320 --> 0:08:10.400 we honor them by doing good. And doing good is 0:08:10.440 --> 0:08:14.360 something that we've been living by. My parents were Franciscans. 0:08:14.840 --> 0:08:18.080 San Francis said, brothers and sisters, while you have time, 0:08:18.200 --> 0:08:20.680 let us do good. And that is very simple, and 0:08:20.840 --> 0:08:23.120 that's our model that we live by. Let us do good. 0:08:23.240 --> 0:08:25.760 That's all the Foundation wants to do good. And we 0:08:25.880 --> 0:08:29.600 do good by taking care of the greatest of all Americans, 0:08:29.640 --> 0:08:32.840 those Delilah who are willing to die for you and 0:08:33.240 --> 0:08:36.160 for me. And that's what we did. We take care 0:08:36.200 --> 0:08:38.560 of the families that are left behind, and then we 0:08:38.600 --> 0:08:42.000 celebrate their lives. We have to celebrate their lives because 0:08:42.040 --> 0:08:44.520 they don't want us to be said. They want us 0:08:44.559 --> 0:08:47.480 to enjoy life the best that you can, because you'll 0:08:47.520 --> 0:08:49.480 have bad days. But we want to enjoy life the 0:08:49.480 --> 0:08:51.959 best you can, but you want to celebrate what they 0:08:51.960 --> 0:08:54.360 did and their lives, and you can only do that 0:08:54.400 --> 0:08:56.480 in the joyous way, and we do that all the time. 0:08:56.559 --> 0:08:58.640 We have a big run every year in September we 0:08:58.720 --> 0:09:02.120 emulate what Stephen did, his final heroic footsteps. We have 0:09:02.160 --> 0:09:06.960 forty people run through that tunnel, thousands of firefighters, thousands 0:09:07.000 --> 0:09:11.440 of police office running the turnout here, thousands of military 0:09:11.880 --> 0:09:16.600 rucket you know, they put their backpacks on phill it rocks, 0:09:16.679 --> 0:09:18.760 you name it. They fill it. They want that weight, 0:09:18.800 --> 0:09:21.800 they want that challenge, they want to respect what was 0:09:21.840 --> 0:09:24.640 done that day. It is just so moving. You come 0:09:24.679 --> 0:09:26.680 out of the Brooklyn Battery tunnel and when you run 0:09:26.720 --> 0:09:28.760 through it, it's almost, like I said, almost two miles long. 0:09:29.040 --> 0:09:32.480 When you come out, we have pictures of every five 0:09:32.559 --> 0:09:34.840 fighter and police officers that died that thing. When you 0:09:34.840 --> 0:09:37.240 come out of the tunnel, that's what you see. We're 0:09:37.240 --> 0:09:40.560 all lined up. We put a face to a number, 0:09:41.200 --> 0:09:44.560 and it's very important that these great Americans are aren't forgotten. 0:09:44.679 --> 0:09:46.520 So that's what you do. You come there. But at 0:09:46.559 --> 0:09:49.240 the end I called the Miracle the Lows. We feed 0:09:49.280 --> 0:09:53.640 all these thirty people and we have a music festival 0:09:54.400 --> 0:09:57.520 we're honoring them in a beautiful family way, and it's 0:09:57.559 --> 0:09:59.960 just the most patriotic day and event you can pass. 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:02.240 So yeah, less but not least on that day. We 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:05.360 have west points to debt that running cadence through that 0:10:05.400 --> 0:10:07.720 tunnel and that chanting, and they're running with a lot 0:10:07.760 --> 0:10:10.720 of the catastrophically agied service members that we built specially 0:10:10.720 --> 0:10:14.960 adopted mortgage free smart homes for and they're going through 0:10:14.960 --> 0:10:20.120 and they it's just I can't so that the cadets 0:10:20.720 --> 0:10:24.600 are in cadence with the wounded warriors, with the most 0:10:24.679 --> 0:10:28.800 catastrophically aged service members. That's what we built for the 0:10:28.880 --> 0:10:36.000 most catastrophically aged service members, double triple, quadruple empetees, quadriplegic paraplegics, 0:10:36.120 --> 0:10:39.320 and they're going through the tunnel to absolutely we had 0:10:39.360 --> 0:10:44.440 a quadruple MPT Todd nicely second quadruple empathy ever survived 0:10:44.640 --> 0:10:48.480 in the battlefield. He's out of St. Louis. He puts 0:10:48.480 --> 0:10:50.760 on his prosthetics. By the way, it takes him about 0:10:50.760 --> 0:10:52.720 an hour to get ready in the morning, just to 0:10:52.760 --> 0:10:54.800 get out of bed, but he puts on all four 0:10:54.880 --> 0:10:58.360 his proscetics. He does the run. He runs through that tunnel, 0:10:59.440 --> 0:11:01.400 and it's it's just incredible. A lot of them have 0:11:01.480 --> 0:11:03.960 to be in wheelchairs. People have helped, you know, we 0:11:04.040 --> 0:11:06.720 push them, you know, through on their wheelchairs. Whatever others 0:11:06.760 --> 0:11:09.280 do us a bite, whatever it may be. We have 0:11:09.440 --> 0:11:12.320 so many catastrophically agi of service members that do it. 0:11:12.520 --> 0:11:16.200 And yes, West Point that's are guarding them. It's like 0:11:16.240 --> 0:11:18.840 an honor God. They run alongside of them and they're 0:11:18.920 --> 0:11:22.600 chanting and they say, it's just so uplifting, it's incredible. 0:11:23.360 --> 0:11:28.360 Have you made a movie or a documentary just about that. Documentaries, Yes, 0:11:28.720 --> 0:11:32.960 we have just that picture you just painted alone of 0:11:33.080 --> 0:11:40.079 these young fresh faced cadets. Yes, in uniform, I'm guessing, 0:11:40.440 --> 0:11:43.520 or in fatigues. Yeah, they're you know the tees. Yes, 0:11:44.679 --> 0:11:47.840 it's incredible. I mean just just that mental image right 0:11:47.880 --> 0:11:53.120 now is breaking my heart in such a good way. Well, now, 0:11:53.200 --> 0:11:55.000 then they go down the West Point of Debts, go 0:11:55.080 --> 0:11:58.959 down to ground zero, and the commandant or superintendent they 0:11:58.960 --> 0:12:01.040 go there and they and they go to ground zero 0:12:01.200 --> 0:12:05.640 right there, and they talk about the importance of why 0:12:05.679 --> 0:12:08.880 they're serving their country and they say, you know, hey, 0:12:08.960 --> 0:12:11.720 look at those guys that you just ran with, you know, 0:12:11.760 --> 0:12:14.160 look at the sacrifice they made. And you're willing to 0:12:14.200 --> 0:12:16.800 sign up and do that because we're all volunteer military. 0:12:17.160 --> 0:12:20.240 We were blessed in this country that we have Americans 0:12:20.240 --> 0:12:23.599 are willing to stand up and protect us. It's incredible. 0:12:23.679 --> 0:12:26.720 So it's just the whole day is very emotional, but 0:12:26.760 --> 0:12:29.640 it's so beautiful and so uplifting too because, like I said, 0:12:29.679 --> 0:12:32.319 my brother ran through that tunnel, but he came out 0:12:32.360 --> 0:12:35.480 the other side. Now he came out the other side 0:12:35.520 --> 0:12:39.240 to help. So as a family, we chose that when 0:12:39.240 --> 0:12:43.240 we go through our tunnel, our sadness or despair, the 0:12:43.320 --> 0:12:46.640 loss of our little brother and of so many others. 0:12:46.640 --> 0:12:49.560 I lost a lot of friends that say, besides, and 0:12:50.000 --> 0:12:52.120 we have to come through that tone come out the 0:12:52.120 --> 0:12:55.840 other side, and we have to help. And that's what 0:12:55.920 --> 0:12:58.400 our foundation does. We want to make sure we take 0:12:58.440 --> 0:13:00.640 care of these families because not what's what he serves 0:13:00.840 --> 0:13:03.920 and could be a military, it could be a police officer, 0:13:04.000 --> 0:13:08.680 could be a firefighter, law enforcement union. When somebody serves, 0:13:08.720 --> 0:13:12.040 the whole family serves. Yeah, amen to that. My My 0:13:12.160 --> 0:13:16.360 oldest son is a police officer and his whole family. 0:13:16.679 --> 0:13:19.240 He has four kids and a wife that's been by 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:22.360 his side through thick and thin through the tunnels of 0:13:22.440 --> 0:13:27.120 life for you know, almost two decades now and they 0:13:27.240 --> 0:13:31.680 all pay the price, they all served. They all it's 0:13:31.720 --> 0:13:36.559 not a job, it's a life, it's a calling. So tunnels, 0:13:36.600 --> 0:13:39.320 the Talas Foundation and the people listening, they can go 0:13:39.400 --> 0:13:43.280 to t the number two, T dot org T the 0:13:43.400 --> 0:13:46.520 number two and T dot org Tunnels to towers is 0:13:46.559 --> 0:13:49.480 what it stands for. Right, and we asked people donate 0:13:49.520 --> 0:13:51.560 as little as eleven dollars a month. But listen, this 0:13:51.679 --> 0:13:54.000 is our promise in our contract. We when we want 0:13:54.040 --> 0:13:57.920 people to join us on our mission that when these 0:13:58.160 --> 0:14:01.160 great American heroes go serve the community or their country, 0:14:01.280 --> 0:14:03.079 right and they give their kids a kiss goodbye and 0:14:03.120 --> 0:14:05.959 they don't come home, we want to deliver them a 0:14:06.040 --> 0:14:08.760 mortgage free home. So if they have a mortgage three 0:14:08.840 --> 0:14:13.040 hundred thousand dollar mortgage, whatever it is, four to fifty, 0:14:13.240 --> 0:14:16.520 whatever it is, we want to pay that mortgage off. 0:14:16.640 --> 0:14:19.320 Because that should be the promise that we have as 0:14:19.360 --> 0:14:22.480 Americans to these families that if they're willing to protect 0:14:22.560 --> 0:14:24.600 us and willing to die for us, and when that happens, 0:14:24.600 --> 0:14:27.760 because it does happen, that we're going to take care 0:14:27.760 --> 0:14:30.600 of their families and that's all promised as a foundation 0:14:30.640 --> 0:14:34.360 that we're going to take care every every first responder 0:14:34.440 --> 0:14:36.400 in America that dies in the line of duty that 0:14:36.480 --> 0:14:39.120 leaves a young family behind. And we've been doing that, 0:14:39.760 --> 0:14:42.000 but we only do because people go and join us 0:14:42.000 --> 0:14:44.520 on a mission, donate as littles eleven dollars a month. 0:14:44.760 --> 0:14:48.880 You know, many hands makes light work, and that's why 0:14:48.920 --> 0:14:52.040 we count on many people to join us. How many 0:14:52.040 --> 0:14:55.360 people do you think participate in the runs that happen 0:14:55.680 --> 0:14:59.720 every year, Well, just two or three hundred people. And 0:14:59.760 --> 0:15:03.600 I'm and some runs have six seven thousand, but our 0:15:03.720 --> 0:15:07.000 run has forty thou so, uh, you know, so hundreds 0:15:07.040 --> 0:15:10.120 of thousands of people. But we have stair climbs, we 0:15:10.200 --> 0:15:12.560 have golf outings, we have events that people put on 0:15:12.680 --> 0:15:15.360 for us all over America because they want to join us. 0:15:15.400 --> 0:15:18.200 Because you know what, here's the thing. We're four stall rating. 0:15:18.240 --> 0:15:21.200 That's the highs you can get. We're a hundred transparency 0:15:21.520 --> 0:15:24.480 and last year in we just did our tax return, 0:15:24.520 --> 0:15:28.400 we're ninety five cents of every dollar goes to our programs. 0:15:28.640 --> 0:15:30.840 I don't get paid, my siblings don't get paid. We 0:15:30.880 --> 0:15:34.320 have tens of thousands of volunteers we deliver. We don't 0:15:34.360 --> 0:15:36.520 just say we deliver it so people could see where 0:15:36.520 --> 0:15:39.640 their money goes. So you see this picture here, it's 0:15:39.680 --> 0:15:45.760 with forty eight Medal of Honor recipients, forty eight of them. 0:15:45.880 --> 0:15:48.720 They sent it to me. It's a beautiful picture. Of course, 0:15:49.000 --> 0:15:51.640 my picture of me and my wife and my six grandchildren. 0:15:51.800 --> 0:15:56.440 That's the most important picture to me. Uh And portraits 0:15:56.480 --> 0:16:00.520 of people that have sacrificed. It's all about family for us, 0:16:00.960 --> 0:16:04.040 but it's also about a country. We're going to take 0:16:04.040 --> 0:16:07.240 a break right now. We're talking with the gentleman who 0:16:07.400 --> 0:16:13.440 started the Tunnels to Tower organization charity project, and we 0:16:13.480 --> 0:16:16.120 will come right back and talk a little bit more 0:16:16.200 --> 0:16:19.160 about your heart, about your passion, and about ways that 0:16:19.240 --> 0:16:24.560 people can get involved. This podcast episode is all about 0:16:24.600 --> 0:16:29.200 an organization that provides help and hope to some very 0:16:29.240 --> 0:16:35.040 deserving recipients. Not unlike today's sponsor Mercy Ships. Mercy Ship 0:16:35.240 --> 0:16:38.400 sends floating hospitals to some of the poorest countries in 0:16:38.440 --> 0:16:42.200 the world with the crew of medical professionals that provide 0:16:42.280 --> 0:16:47.360 free life changing surgeries to some very grateful patients. They 0:16:47.400 --> 0:16:52.080 are sustained entirely by the generosity of volunteers and donors 0:16:52.120 --> 0:16:56.360 just like you. You can help in three ways. You 0:16:56.400 --> 0:17:00.080 can give, you can go, and you can pray. And 0:17:00.200 --> 0:17:04.360 more about the organization volunteer opportunities and how to make 0:17:04.400 --> 0:17:08.639 a donation by visiting Mercy ships dot org slash love. 0:17:09.119 --> 0:17:14.359 That's Mercy Ships dot org slash love. We are back, 0:17:14.920 --> 0:17:18.480 and I'm kind of quiet today. I'm kind of subdued 0:17:18.560 --> 0:17:22.520 because when we open this podcast, you were describing what 0:17:22.680 --> 0:17:29.800 Stephen did one eleven running through the tunnel, and my 0:17:29.960 --> 0:17:35.560 podcast producer sent me all the information beforehand, so I 0:17:35.640 --> 0:17:38.919 knew that I get like that all the time. So 0:17:39.800 --> 0:17:43.359 you're very genuine and I and I appreciate it, and uh, 0:17:43.440 --> 0:17:47.600 it is heartbreaking, but it is so inspiring what my 0:17:47.680 --> 0:17:50.480 brother did, and that he inspired us to be better, 0:17:51.000 --> 0:17:56.080 not better. That's amazing because if that were my little brother, 0:17:56.720 --> 0:18:00.119 I don't know that I wouldn't be a little bit better. No, 0:18:00.280 --> 0:18:02.760 I was better. I can't tell you I wasn't. That 0:18:02.880 --> 0:18:05.080 being said, I know that he doesn't want us to 0:18:05.119 --> 0:18:08.080 be said. We want to do good in this world 0:18:08.119 --> 0:18:10.440 and and then most certainly for our country, so that 0:18:10.600 --> 0:18:14.159 that's what we focus on. What a gift of peace 0:18:14.359 --> 0:18:18.359 that must be for thousands of people, and it is 0:18:18.400 --> 0:18:22.919 thousands and yes. And I call almost every single widow 0:18:23.040 --> 0:18:28.320 myself and I talked to them. Over the last twenty years. 0:18:29.040 --> 0:18:33.040 I've learned how to speak to somebody who is grieving 0:18:33.560 --> 0:18:38.080 and such an unbelievable loss. And I I almost every 0:18:38.080 --> 0:18:40.240 one of them. I say, Tom, do you believe in 0:18:40.520 --> 0:18:43.639 life after death? No one said no to me, be 0:18:43.720 --> 0:18:46.360 quite frank with you, and they say, yes, I do, 0:18:46.640 --> 0:18:48.200 and I and then I changed and I said, no, 0:18:48.280 --> 0:18:50.920 I'm not talking about for your husband. I'm talking about 0:18:50.920 --> 0:18:55.360 for you. Is life after death for you? And you 0:18:55.440 --> 0:18:58.320 have to realize that the best way to honor somebody. 0:18:58.320 --> 0:19:00.520 And I'm not telling anybody had to grieve and how 0:19:00.520 --> 0:19:03.400 to get through things, not doing that, but I think 0:19:03.440 --> 0:19:05.800 the best way to honor somebody is to have a full, 0:19:06.119 --> 0:19:09.879 good life, live a good life. And they have to 0:19:09.880 --> 0:19:12.640 realize and in the beginning, of course, you just can't 0:19:12.640 --> 0:19:15.320 even get out of bed, almost in the beginning, But 0:19:15.400 --> 0:19:19.160 then when they realize that people care, that's important. And 0:19:19.280 --> 0:19:21.359 I think that that's a message that we bring to 0:19:21.400 --> 0:19:25.880 these widows, well widow, is that people care. They don't 0:19:25.920 --> 0:19:28.480 know me, that we're somebody that they didn't even know. 0:19:28.880 --> 0:19:31.480 And here we are saying we're gonna pay off your 0:19:31.480 --> 0:19:33.320 mortgage and you're gonna be able to stay in the 0:19:33.400 --> 0:19:36.680 house that you were making all the memories with your 0:19:36.760 --> 0:19:39.720 husband and your kids and you can stay there. And 0:19:39.760 --> 0:19:43.640 that's a tremendous burden lift off that family, tremendous financial work. 0:19:43.680 --> 0:19:47.400 Because we all know the biggest expense we all have 0:19:48.040 --> 0:19:50.960 right is our mortgage and that it's done. So what 0:19:51.080 --> 0:19:55.040 does that do That enables some of these families with 0:19:55.160 --> 0:19:59.240 the mother or father can stay home and or work 0:19:59.280 --> 0:20:02.760 part times a full time, two jobs or whatever to 0:20:02.760 --> 0:20:05.840 pay mortgage and two and to feed your kids. Yeah, 0:20:05.880 --> 0:20:09.800 it's hard enough to lose one parent, and like you said, 0:20:09.880 --> 0:20:12.919 if the parent left behind then has to assume that 0:20:13.000 --> 0:20:18.080 financial obligation. You lose two parents. Yes, you lose the 0:20:18.119 --> 0:20:20.199 parent who passed on and you lose the parent who 0:20:20.240 --> 0:20:22.800 has now gone, you know, eighteen hours a day trying 0:20:22.840 --> 0:20:27.200 to provide. So you're right, you're you're giving those kids 0:20:27.960 --> 0:20:31.680 mom or dad, whoever is left behind, You're giving them 0:20:31.960 --> 0:20:35.920 them more fully. And how did I mean, how did 0:20:35.960 --> 0:20:38.919 this come to you? Like you're grieving you lost your 0:20:38.960 --> 0:20:42.920 baby brother. He was never recovered so now you've got 0:20:43.080 --> 0:20:46.080 grief on top of grief. I lost a brother in 0:20:46.119 --> 0:20:49.160 an airplane accident. We didn't have the body, we didn't 0:20:49.200 --> 0:20:51.959 have the remains, we didn't know what happened for years. 0:20:52.640 --> 0:20:57.440 So I know that compounded grief of not having that closure. 0:20:59.080 --> 0:21:02.560 How long after you lost Stephen, Frank, did you go 0:21:02.640 --> 0:21:05.160 you know what I could do? This I could help 0:21:05.680 --> 0:21:10.399 I could help impact the lives of families like Stevens. 0:21:11.480 --> 0:21:14.920 Walk me through that process. How God imparted that upon 0:21:14.960 --> 0:21:19.360 your heart? The truth is we've been guided the whole way. 0:21:19.720 --> 0:21:23.119 Albeit we did decide very early on. I remember talking 0:21:23.160 --> 0:21:25.119 to my sister in law, and this is only weeks 0:21:25.160 --> 0:21:27.399 after my brother was gone. I said, I think we 0:21:27.440 --> 0:21:30.480 should start a foundation to honor what Stephen did and 0:21:30.600 --> 0:21:33.760 help kids. Why not help, you know, these kids that 0:21:33.760 --> 0:21:35.640 are left behind when they died in the line of duty. 0:21:35.720 --> 0:21:38.760 So that's when we first thought it. But I'm gonna 0:21:38.760 --> 0:21:42.359 tell you we were doing a lot. But in two 0:21:42.400 --> 0:21:46.280 thousand and ten, the first ever quadruple amputee that ever 0:21:46.359 --> 0:21:49.280 survived any war was from where Stephen was born where 0:21:49.320 --> 0:21:51.919 I was born, in stan Island, New York, and I 0:21:51.960 --> 0:21:54.639 went down to visit him and Walter Reid Army Medical Centers. 0:21:54.680 --> 0:21:57.479 Name is Sawgeant Brenda Morocco, and I was down there. 0:21:57.520 --> 0:21:59.080 I was talking to him, and I said, Brenda, kind 0:21:59.119 --> 0:22:03.000 the tunnels, the tower was foundation, build you a mortgage 0:22:03.040 --> 0:22:07.240 free home. And he accepted, and we've delivered June eleventh, 0:22:07.280 --> 0:22:10.080 two thousand and eleven. So it was almost on the 0:22:10.080 --> 0:22:13.440 tenth anniversaries, three months of the tenth anniversary nine eleven. 0:22:13.480 --> 0:22:15.840 So we were doing a lot, you know, raising a 0:22:16.000 --> 0:22:18.960 million dollars a year, seven hundred thousand dollars or whatever 0:22:19.760 --> 0:22:22.359 up it to that point. But now we built this house, 0:22:22.440 --> 0:22:25.240 had raised the coast over seven hundred thousand dollars to 0:22:25.280 --> 0:22:27.800 build this house in the New York area. I don't 0:22:27.840 --> 0:22:30.479 have to tell you that. And um, we put all 0:22:30.520 --> 0:22:33.360 this small technology in it. And then there was two 0:22:33.359 --> 0:22:38.000 more quadruple emputees right away that survived. And we said, well, 0:22:38.000 --> 0:22:39.880 we built for Brendon, we have to build for these 0:22:39.920 --> 0:22:42.240 two guys. So I'm down to Walter read all the time. 0:22:42.359 --> 0:22:44.520 We meet more and more, so it ends up being 0:22:44.520 --> 0:22:49.200 five quaduble amputees. But there's thirty eight triple amputees. I 0:22:49.240 --> 0:22:53.040 was visiting, So I said on the anniversary the tenth 0:22:53.040 --> 0:22:56.320 Anniversity nine eleven, we had a small concert. We told 0:22:56.359 --> 0:22:59.200 stories of nine eleven. We told some stories of different families. 0:22:59.440 --> 0:23:01.240 We didn't even tell my brother's story. We told other 0:23:01.280 --> 0:23:04.760 people's stories, right, And I was on the stage giving 0:23:04.920 --> 0:23:08.400 a few words, and I said, look, we're building these 0:23:08.400 --> 0:23:11.880 houses for troople emputees. There's thirty eight triple emputees. And said, 0:23:11.880 --> 0:23:13.680 now we're going to build these thirty eight houses for 0:23:13.760 --> 0:23:17.200 tree blamp. Out of your mouth came that commitment. And 0:23:17.240 --> 0:23:19.399 then you're like, oh, wait a minute. I said it 0:23:19.440 --> 0:23:21.920 out loud, and I do that all the time, Delilah. 0:23:22.040 --> 0:23:25.119 That's what I learned in life. Say it out loud, 0:23:25.440 --> 0:23:27.919 and you have to complete it. So I said it 0:23:27.920 --> 0:23:31.120 out loud that day my sisters, and what, oh my god, 0:23:31.160 --> 0:23:34.920 what's he throwing up there? You know, because to fathom 0:23:34.960 --> 0:23:38.480