KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – A traveling 9/11 exhibit is at the Missouri Capitol this weekend. Retired New York City firefighters with the Tunnel to Towers Foundation are offering history lessons on the attacks.
Tunnel to Towers is a charity created by the family of Firefighter Stephen Siller, who died during the attack on the Twin Towers 25 years ago. The foundation builds homes for veterans and pays off mortgages for families who lose a loved one in the line of service, using money raised through donors and 5Ks.
Retired Battalion Chief John Bruckner said traveling the country on Sept. 11 gives him a reprieve from the emotions in his hometown on that day.
“I was talking to my boss, his beeper went off and he said a plane hit the World Trade Center,” Bruckner said. “I was like ‘get out of here,’ it was a beautiful day. We went into his office and I couldn’t believe it. There was a hole in the building 10 floors high and 30 floors of fire,” Buckner said. “People showed up, anybody who thought they could help showed up. And that’s really what got us through it, the people who showed up to help.”
The traveling exhibit will be in Jefferson City all weekend, offering free history lessons taught by those who experienced the attacks first hand.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, and the Tunnel to Towers foundation is holding what it describes as its most comprehensive commemoration to date.
The foundation’s Steel Across America tour will transport a steel beam from the World Trade Center to communities across the country from May through September 2026, visiting landmark locations, sporting events and town squares, according to the foundation’s website.
The foundation also says it plans to deliver 343 mortgage-free homes throughout 2026, in tribute to the 343 FDNY members who died on 9/11. The homes are provided through the foundation’s Smart Home Program for catastrophically injured veterans and first responders, its Gold Star Family Home Program for families of fallen military members, and its Fallen First Responder Home Program for families of first responders who died in the line of duty, the website states.
Since launching its Homeless Veteran Program in 2022, the foundation says it has assisted 17,500 homeless veterans with housing and support services, according to its website.
“Twenty-five years ago, our nation faced its darkest day, but in that darkness, we witnessed the brightest examples of courage, sacrifice, and love,” Frank Siller, chairman and CEO of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, said in a statement on the foundation’s website. “As we mark this quarter-century milestone, we do so not just by looking back, but by continuing the mission that Stephen and so many heroes embodied — to serve others, to Never Forget, and to ensure that no sacrifice goes unrecognized. Through Steel Across America and our programs serving those who protect and defend us, we’re keeping that promise alive.”
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