Tunnel to Towers Comes to Tangi

Members of the Tunnel to Towers committee: (L to R) Joe Yargo, Larry Byers , Braville LeBlanc, Jody Borne, Donald Lanier, Benton Thames, Ruben Auter (not present).

s we head out this month to attend the annual Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival, view the 9/11 NEVER FORGET mobile exhibit that will be on display during the

Jody Borne, co-chairman of the Tunnel to Towers committee, was the driving force behind getting this special memorial here. It honors the men and women in uniform who died that horrific day back in 2001. But the movement goes much farther than that.

The traveling exhibit was started to honor the memory of New York City (FDNY) firefighter Stephen Siller and carry on his legacy. The Siller family began their foundation, Tunnel to Towers, to honor the son and brother who bravely rushed with 60 lbs. of firefighting gear strapped to his back all the way from the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel to the Twin Towers. There, Siller and 342 of his FDNY brothers and sisters died in the fiery inferno that engulfed lower Manhattan.

The Tunnel to Towers Foundation is a non-profit that works with the families of fallen officers and firefighters who have died in the line of duty. They pay off the mortgages on these families’ homes. They also work with disabled American veterans by revamping and building smart houses designed for the ease of disabled vets.

Thus far, the foundation has helped the families of seven Louisiana officers who were killed in action, including Vincent Loberto of the Mandeville Police Department, whose son attended Ponchatoula High School.

The committee has organized a procession for the Tunnel to Towers exhibit on Wednesday, April 11. Firefighters, police officers and other officials will convene in Kentwood and lead the exhibit down 55 and into the main street of Ponchatoula. An opening ceremony is scheduled for Thursday, April 12, followed by private tours for invited attendees. Four of the firefighters who fought the death and destruction on 9/11 will accompany the exhibit. They and other firefighters and first responders will be honored guests of our famous Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival parade. They will lead the parade while riding on the Spirit of Louisiana firetruck. The Spirit of Louisiana was built in Holden and donated to NYFD. They then donated it back after Katrina when NOLA lost their trucks in the flood. It now sits in Baton Rouge and is used in visiting schools.

Bringing this exhibit here to Ponchatoula was three years in the making, due to the COVID pandemic. Even after the festival

resumed, Borne spoke with local business owners hard hit by the pandemic and decided to give everyone another year in recovery mode before attempting to raise the funds to bring Tunnel to Towers here to our community.

Raising Funds and Awareness

Borne continues the goal of raising money to support Tunnel to Towers’ financial goals. The money raised is used to not only provide care for the families of the fallen, it also ensures the exhibit is offered free to the public so everyone has the opportunity to walk through the experience They are very close to achieving their stated goal this year and encourage anyone who wants to get involved or donate to visit their Facebook page to learn how their funds and efforts can best be directed.

This year, as you walk along the festival grounds and enjoy the strawberry daiquiris, flats of fresh, sweet berries, carnival rides, and live music coming from several different stages, we encourage you to take a moment to visit Veterans’ Square. There you will find the traveling exhibit as well as booths from several local military branches and other civic groups.

When we speak of American exceptionalism, there can be no finer example than the brave men and women who put their lives on the line when duty called one day in New York City.