{"id":335515,"date":"2026-09-02T02:21:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T02:21:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/335515\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T02:21:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T02:21:09","slug":"brother-of-hero-9-11-firefighter-stephen-siller-relives-heartbroken-moment-he-knew-hero-sibling-had-died-sick-to-my-stomach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/335515\/","title":{"rendered":"Brother of hero 9\/11 firefighter Stephen Siller relives heartbroken moment he knew hero sibling had died: ‘Sick to my stomach’"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the haze of confusion and fear on September 11, 2001, Frank Siller<\/a> felt certain of one thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI turned to my mother-in-law and said, \u2018I think I just lost my brother.\u2019 I was sick to my stomach,\u201d he told me of that fateful morning.<\/p>\n

His brother, Stephen Siller, had just gotten off duty as an FDNY firefighter and was driving home from Park Slope to Staten Island when he heard the North Tower of the World Trade Center had been hit by a plane. He turned his truck around, donned 60 pounds of equipment and ran through the closed Brooklyn Battery Tunnel toward the horror unfolding in Manhattan.<\/p>\n

FDNY firefighter Stephen Siller was off duty when he drove to the closed Brooklyn Battery tunnel, donned 60 pounds of equipment and ran through the tunnel toward the burning towers. Tunnel to Towers Foundation \/ Siller Family<\/p>\n

Frank Siller, Chairman and CEO of Tunnels to Towers Foundation stands in his Staten Island headquarters. The foundation was started in honor of his brother Stephen Siller, a FDNY firefighter who died responding to the September 11, 2001, attack at the World Trade Center, and provides financial support for families of 9\/11 victims as well as veterans and first responders. Stephen Yang<\/p>\n

Frank would later receive confirmation from his brother\u2019s friend and fellow firefighter Richie Obermeyer, who phoned him from Ground Zero with the grim news.<\/p>\n

In his new book, \u201cLet Us Do Good<\/a>,\u201d Siller recounted Obermeyer\u2019s chilling words. \u201cNo one is coming home, Frank,\u201d Obermeyer told him. \u201cNo one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stephen, a married father of five, never returned. But his heroic final acts would become one of the defining and enduring stories from the terror attacks.<\/p>\n

Frank Siller, Chairman and CEO of Tunnels to Towers Foundation always wears his cap, which honors the FDNY, NYPD, PAPD and all the branches of the military. Stephen Yang<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was brutal, but that\u2019s when our faith kicked in,\u201d said Frank, a devout Catholic. His family faced an agonizing choice. \u201cAre we going to let that define everything \u2014 or are we going to take what Stephen did and thank him for his sacrifice?\u201d<\/p>\n

The six remaining Siller siblings launched the Tunnel to Towers foundation, which was originally intended to help children who had lost parents in the attacks. In 2002, they held a 5k run retracing Stephen\u2019s route through the tunnel. It drew 1,500 participants; this year, they\u2019ll have 30,000<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And the charity itself has grown to meet the needs of first responders, veterans and their families<\/a>. They build smart homes for injured veterans, provide housing for homeless vets, pay off mortgages for Gold Star families and provide scholarships for children of the fallen.<\/p>\n

The Tunnel to Towers 5K Run now drew 30,000 participants in 2025. Tunnel to Towers Foundation<\/p>\n

The mission, Frank said, was inspired by their brother\u2019s selfless action \u2014\u00a0as well as St. Francis of Assisi, who said, \u201cWhile we are here, let us do good\u201d and stressed simplicity and service.<\/p>\n

His book is really about his and Stephen\u2019s family.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to introduce people to my mom and dad,\u201d he said of his parents, George and Mae Siller, who raised seven children in a raucous Staten Island home full of faith.<\/p>\n

While they had very little, he said, \u201cWe had each other, and we had great friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Frank\u2019s own childhood was \u201cglorious,\u201d Stephen\u2019s took a dark turn when the \u201clarger than life\u201d boy\u201d \u2014\u00a0a rabid fan of the Knicks and Kansas City Royals legend George Brett \u2014\u00a0was just 10 years old.<\/p>\n

Brothers George Siller, Stephen Siller, Frank Siller and Russell Siller in an old family photo. Tunnel to Towers Foundation \/ Siller Family<\/p>\n

First their father, George, passed from a heart embolism, then a year-and-a-half later their mother, Mae, died as well. Stephen\u2019s much older siblings took him in, ensuring he was raised in the Siller way.<\/p>\n

Not that it was easy.<\/p>\n

Frank, who is 14 years older than Stephen, recalled taking his brother to a park when as a boy, he broke down crying, saying he wished he had never been born.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know God put you on this Earth for a reason,\u201d Frank told him. \u201cAnd I know someday you are going to do something very special.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Stephen had an eerie feeling about the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cStephen admitted to [his wife Sally] that his need to make the most out of every day stemmed from a deeply held premonition that he was going to die young,\u201d he writes.<\/p>\n

Both were correct.<\/p>\n

Frank Siller stands to family photos and portraits of his late brothers Russell and Stephen Siller. Stephen Yang<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d rather have him back, in a very selfish way. That\u2019s hard to say,\u201d Frank admits. \u201cI wish I was helping somebody else\u2019s foundation and he was still here.\u201d<\/p>\n

But he also seems ordained for this role. By the end of 2026, Tunnel to Towers will have delivered over 2,000 mortgage-free homes.<\/p>\n

Numerous celebrities have lent their time and names to help raise money, including Sylvester Stallone, Mark Wahlberg and Dave Portnoy.<\/p>\n

But for every boldfacer in his book, there are far more stories of veterans and surviving family members of first responders.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have sat with these families in the raw aftermath of their losses, when the shock is still fresh and the reality hasn\u2019t set in,\u201d he writes.<\/p>\n

Stephen Siller\u2019s FDNY hangs in the Staten Island headquarters of the Tunnel to Towers foundation along with the St. Francis of Assisi quote, \u201cLet us do good.\u201d Stephen Yang<\/p>\n

Even with all their complicated initiatives, they are still working to ensure people \u201cnever forget<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a quarter of a century and public figures like leftist streamer Hasan Piker saying<\/a> \u201cAmerica deserved 9\/11,\u201d it\u2019s a heavier lift.<\/p>\n

Siller doesn\u2019t like to get political but said, \u201cSomebody that says America deserved 9\/11? It\u2019s the greatest country in the world\u2026 It\u2019s not true.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said that 25-year-old Frank would punch Piker in the face, but 73-year-old version knows \u201cit\u2019s not going to settle anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s disturbing these naive kids that have been brainwashed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Siller would like to focus on the mission. And he still replays his brother\u2019s last day in his mind, wondering what he thought as he raced toward danger.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure he was torn,\u201d he said, thinking of his wife and kids. \u201cThat\u2019s a hero.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the haze of confusion and fear on September 11, 2001, Frank Siller felt certain of one thing.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":335516,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5301,10839,57,9,24,63,134,136,135,89983,58],"class_list":["post-335515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-staten-island","tag-9-11","tag-hasan-piker","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-headlines","tag-staten-island-news","tag-tunnel-to-towers","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=335515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/335516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=335515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=335515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=335515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}