Announced June 17, outside of the Lincoln Memorial, Tunnel to Towers will host a memorial ceremony to read aloud each of the names of the more than 7,000 men and women who have lost their lives since the September 11 attacks this Veterans Day.
Four Gold Star widows, Congressman Lee Zeldin and Congressman Michael Waltz joined Tunnel to Towers CEO and Chairman Frank Siller to announce the Foundation’s plans to honor the memory of the thousands of American service members killed in the War on Terror following the 9/11 attacks.
“When our nation was attacked on 9/11, a generation of Americans volunteered to step forward and serve in our country’s response. It is time that we honor the thousands who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our safety and our freedom, by reading their names aloud,” said Siller.
Congressman Zeldin and Congressman Waltz both answered the call to serve – Zeldin with the U.S. Army in Iraq and Waltz as a Green Beret, commanding special forces in Afghanistan. Each Gold Star widow will spoke about their husband’s sacrifice, the importance of this ceremony, and how this memorial keeps their loved ones’ memory alive.
In an emotional act of remembrance, four Tunnel to Towers Gold Star Family Home Program recipients and Gold Star widows spoke of their loved ones. Gold Star widow Nancy Gass spoke about her husband, U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Girard “Jerry” Gass Jr.; Gold Star widow Carmela Raguso spoke of her husband, New York Air National Guard Master Sergeant Christopher Raguso; Gold Star widow Rebecca Briggs spoke of her husband, New York Air National Guard Staff Sergeant Dashan Briggs and Gold Star widow Shannon Slutman spoke of her husband, USMC Staff Sergeant Christopher Slutman.
This Veterans Day ceremony is one of many ways that Tunnel to Towers is marking the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. For more information on all of the Foundations plans to mark this year’s historic milestone, visit t2t.org/20-Anniversary.
The Tunnel to Towers Foundation is dedicated to honoring the sacrifice of FDNY Firefighter Stephen Siller, who laid down his life to save others on September 11, 2001. For 20 years the Foundation has supported our nation’s first responders, veterans, and their families by providing these heroes and the families they leave behind with mortgage-free homes. For more about the Tunnel to Towers Foundation and its commitment to DO GOOD, please visit t2t.org.