Robin & John Raiso

The day of September 11, 2001, started a bit strange for Robin and John Raiso. John woke up that morning not feeling well, and Robin had offered to drive into the city instead of taking an express bus.

As the couple sat in their car near the mouth of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, Robin happened to be looking up and saw a plane flying low and turning towards Manhattan. They witnessed the plane strike the World Trade Center, and they couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

Bits and pieces of the building were pelting their car. They noticed a pickup truck that had pulled up onto the median right in front of the tunnel to the left of them. They realized the man getting out of the truck was a New York City Fire Department (FDNY) firefighter getting his gear out of his vehicle and putting it on. The firefighter was Stephen Siller.

Siller took off and started running into the tunnel. Port Authority Police had stopped Siller initially, but when they realized he was a firefighter, they let him continue to run through the tunnel.

Robin and John were shocked and amazed to see him do this as traumatized people started to run out in the opposite direction.