Annual banquet and awards ceremony celebrates first responders
BY MICHELLE KEY
PUBLISHER
OPELIKA — The 2025 Valor Public Safety Awards were presented Monday night during a dinner honoring the area’s first responders.
During the event, presented by the Opelika Chamber of Commerce, the Tunnel to Towers Never Forget 9/11 Mobile Exhibit museum curators — John Buckner, Herb Penner, Tony Tomesheski, Douglas Adams, Steve Spellman, William Puckett and Matthew Crowley participated in a fireside chat, answering questions from the audience.
The men, now all retired members of the FDNY, were on active duty the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. All seven worked at “Ground Zero” in the days and weeks that followed. They now travel as volunteer narrators in the exhibit, sharing their memories of that day as well as the mission of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.
Penner recently spoke at the museum opening ceremony on Sept. 11 at Southern Union.
“Most of us old enough to remember that day, find it impossible to forget it,” Penner said. “We should never forget it, because history repeats itself when you forget. That day nearly 3,000 innocent people died … and the death toll is still adding up today. I miss, as oddly as it may sound, the days after 9/11, sometimes, because of how together everyone was. We were working together and things have changed lately and I just hope that it doesn’t take another 9/11 to bring us all back together.”
ABOUT T2T
The foundation was created to honor the memory of Brooklyn Firefighter Stephen Gerard Siller, a member of Brooklyn’s Squad 1. Siller upon reaching the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel only to find it had been closed after the attacks, ran through the tunnel with his gear to the Twin Towers where he ultimately died while saving others.
T2T as it is known, was started in 2013 and has launched several programs designed to help first responders, military members and families impacted by tragedy.
Smart Home Program — The foundation builds mortgage-free smart homes for the most catastrophically injured veterans and first responders.
Fallen First Responder Home Program — This programs aims to pay off the mortgages of fallen law enforcement officers and firefighters who lose their lives in the line of duty, or to 9/11 related illness, and leave behind young children.
Gold Star Family Home Program — The Foundation will provide a mortgage-free home to surviving military spouses with young children that die in the line of duty.
Homeless Veteran Program — This program is providing housing assistance and access to supportive services to more than 15,000 veterans and their families through its veteran villages.
Tunnel To Towers 9/11 Institute — This is T2T’s Sept. 11, 2001 education program designed to educate children across the country about 9/11, the fallen and the heroic sacrifices of first responders who made the ultimate sacrifice while saving others. Visit www.T2T.org for more information.
