Frank Siller, chairman and CEO of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, told Newsmax on Monday that to celebrate the Fourth of July, his organization is paying off the mortgages of more than 30 Gold Star families and families of fallen first responders, and presenting a mortgage-free smart home to a catastrophically injured veteran.
"We're proud of the work that we're doing for sure," Siller, who started the foundation in honor of his younger brother, Stephen, a New York City firefighter who died on 9/11, told "American Agenda." "The reason why we do so many on holidays like this is to make sure America knows that there's such a big price that's being paid for our freedoms that we have here in the greatest country to have ever existed, because of the heroes … who sacrificed it all for us.
"At the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, we made a promise that when you go and serve your country or your community, and ... you die in the line of duty, or you give your body for your country, we're going to make sure we deliver you a mortgage-free home."
The veteran the foundation honored with a mortgage-free smart home is retired Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Ben Webb, who served three tours in Afghanistan and one in Iraq throughout his 15-year military career. Webb was awarded three Purple Hearts for being wounded in action. He suffered multiple concussions and shrapnel wounds, and Siller said Webb has the use of only one leg.
"It's been a long road, a long struggle, many dark days of worry, of wondering, and hoping, of praying, and waiting, but not anymore," Webb, who will reside in Union Beach, New Jersey, said in a news release. "I never stopped believing this day would come, that I would be able to come home, here in my little corner of the world."
Siller said veterans who qualify usually are amputees, paraplegics, or quadriplegics, and he said it is a "joyous" feeling to let them know they have received a mortgage-free smart home. He said the conversation is more somber when the foundation notifies Gold Star families and families of fallen first responders.
"Those phone calls are very difficult because in many cases they just lost their loved one," Siller said. "But we let them know they're not forgotten and we're going to take care of their family."
Siller said the public could help his organization by going to its website t2t.org and contributing $11 a month.
"We're doing over 200 a year and we've done over 1,000 already," Siller said, "but we have a lot more people that need this type of help."
About NEWSMAX TV:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America!
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.