Members of North Brunswick PBA 160, their family members and their friends participated in the 2015 Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers 5K Run/Walk on Sept. 27 to honor the New York fireman who ran in full gear from Brooklyn to the World Trade Center in Manhattan on Sept. 11, 2001. PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHAEL BRAUN NORTH BRUNSWICK — Stephen Siller was a New York City firefighter who was on his way home from a late shift at Squad 1, Park Slope, Brooklyn, on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.
On his way to play golf with his brothers, he heard over his scanner of the first plane hitting the World Trade Center in Manhattan. Siller drove his truck to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel but it was closed, so he strapped on 60 pounds of gear and ran 3.5 miles from Red Hook, Brooklyn, through the tunnel (now known as the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel) to what would become known as Ground Zero, the site of the terrorist attacks of 2001.
Siller was one of the 2,996 people killed that fateful day.
To honor his memory, more than 50,000 people came out to run, walk or cheer on participants of the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers 5K Run & Walk on Sept. 27.
This year, 32 members of team “North Brunswick PBA 160 and Friends” joined in on the race.
“It’s to show support for first responders who lost their lives there, and for the families of the fallen first responders,” said Police Detective Michael Braun.
“I think you just realize what a commitment this young man had. He gave his life going to help other people,” said retired North Brunswick Police Lt. Bill Kloos. “It’s a very patriotic run. … You realize what a sacrifice these guys made – and not even thinking about it. They did what they were trained to do.”
Police Captain Brian Hoiberg, who was also a volunteer fireman, began organizing a group years ago. He, Braun and Kloos joined fellow police officers Det. Michael Sauvigne, Ptl. Pete Badawy, Det. Bill Lovas and Det. Robert Powell, along with former officer Kevin DeGaetano — who is now a fireman in northern New Jersey — as well as some spouses and children this year.
The day began around 4 a.m. for most of the local participants, as they had to wake up and get to the ferry in Manhattan by 7:30 a.m. Landing at the IKEA in Red Hook shortly thereafter, the race began at 9:30 a.m., taking about a half hour to get to the new Freedom Tower through the tunnel and along Battery Park.
With tens of thousands of runners and walkers traveling through the tunnel in waves, Braun said, “it gets a little warm,” though there is no feeling of claustrophobia.
“It’s a different experience to see how far it was, to come out of the tunnel to see you’re in Manhattan,” said Lovas, the current PBA president, who as a volunteer with North Brunswick Fire Co. No. 3 at the time responded to a firehouse in Bedford- Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, on Sept. 11.
“Walking the 3½ miles, you can still feel the full effect of the event. It pulls at your heartstrings but makes you realize some of the great things about our country,” Hoiberg said.
“For me … you are thinking about the Siller part of it before and after the run, but during the run you tend to focus on the veterans running along with you,” he said — as well as active military units, 2,300 West Point cadets, 155 members of the London Fire Department and police officers in uniform.
“As you’re running through the tunnel, people are chanting, ‘USA! USA!’” said Braun, who described the run as “very emotional,” especially since there are firefighters holding flags and pictures of fallen firefighters as runners emerge from the tunnel.
“You really get an appreciation of how many people died,” Hoiberg said.
“I couldn’t imagine what [Siller] was going through, between the adrenaline [and] the weight of his gear. Running in shorts and a t-shirt is still tough; I couldn’t imagine doing it with full gear on,” Braun added.
This year, Braun’s daughter Kaitlyn, 11, joined him for the run, holding his hand the whole way, understanding the poignancy of the event.
“My daughter and I high-fived every police officer and firefighter who was lined up,” he said. “It’s a big deal to pass this along to my daughter. She wasn’t alive during 9/11.”
Powell brought along his wife JoAnne and his children, Lindsey, 16, and Robert, 15.
“My kids were in awe,” Powell said of approaching the end of the tunnel.
A Desert Storm veteran as a member of the United States Navy, he said the race is “about camaraderie and brotherhood.”
“When you see military guys running and [think about] what happened after 9/11, sure there is [significance]” he said.
After the race finished, to pay their respects, some of the team members visited the Sept. 11 memorial site.
“It’s about being there with the first responders and their families. … Although I wasn’t at Ground Zero on 9/11, it’s meaningful for me to be part of [the race],” said Braun, who had been detailed to the Fresh Kills Landfill in Staten Island to search for human remains.
The members of the PBA 160 team raised at least $750 for the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, which most recently paid off the mortgages of the houses of New York Police Officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos, who were murdered last December while on duty, and has raised money for technologically advanced homes for disabled veterans and for burn centers.
“I’d definitely do it again, and I encourage others to do it,” Lovas said.
Contact Jennifer Amato at jamato@gmnews.com.