Stephen Siller Jr. was just 9 months old when nearly 3,000 people were killed in the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Yet the event has shaped his life and served as a driving force “to keep the memory of sacrifice alive for all generations,” he says.

Siller’s father was a New York City firefighter who was killed at the World Trade Center. In honor of the elder Siller, his family founded the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.

The nonprofit supports family members of fallen first responders and veterans through programs that provide mortgage-free homes for families, build specially adapted smart homes for severely injured veterans and first responders, address veteran homelessness, and keep the memory of 9/11 alive.

Twenty-five years after the attacks, young Americans know about them mostly through classroom lessons, documentaries, and social media posts.

Ahead of the 25th anniversary, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation launched the Steel Across America tour to bring a piece of Ground Zero to communities nationwide.

Siller and foundation team members are transporting a 16,900-pound, 21-foot-plus steel beam recovered from the south tower on a flat bed truck.

The journey, which started in May, will culminate at Ground Zero on Sept. 11 after covering 10,500 miles, through 35 cities in 21 states. The south tower beam has made stops at national monuments, museums, and Major League Baseball stadiums.

“We’re sharing stories of heroes, men like my father. These stories are going to inspire the next generation,” Siller told The Epoch Times.

The tour has made stops at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida, where President George W. Bush was told of the attacks while reading to students.

At the tour’s first stop, in lower Manhattan, Siller provided one New York City firefighter with an emotional reunion.

The firefighter’s entire unit was killed on 9/11.

“He was off duty that day. Everybody else in this house lost their lives,” Siller said.

When the firefighter saw the steel beam, Siller said, “he came to that steel, walked up to it, and started to break down—he was hugging it and crying.”

“His friends are a part of that steel. It was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. [He was] hugging the steel like he was hugging his friends.”

In Sarasota, Florida, former White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card attended the tour stop at the school where he notified Bush that the World Trade Center had been struck. The teacher who was in the classroom that day also attended.

“Andy came down and re-met with the teacher for the first time since Sept. 11. It was a heck of a reunion,” Siller said.

On the tour’s last stop, at Ground Zero, Siller and his family will retrace the heroic last steps of his father.

‘He Lost His Life While Saving Others’

On Sept. 11, after finishing an overnight shift, he was on his way to play golf with his brothers when he heard a call on his scanner describing how the World Trade Center had been hit.

“He turned his car around and went to his firehouse. When he got there, he learned that his unit had already responded. So he grabbed his gear, threw it in his truck, and started to drive to the World Trade Center,” Siller said.

Siller Sr. called his wife, Sally, and asked her to let his brothers know he would meet them later.

He was stopped outside the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel. Entry into Manhattan was blocked.

“You could not get in unless you were in an emergency vehicle, so he parked his car outside the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel,” Siller said.

Siller Sr. ran two miles through the tunnel to the south tower, hauling 60 pounds of gear. He was never found amid the 1.8 million tons of steel and concrete rubble, leaving behind Sally and five young children—three daughters and two sons.

“He lost his life while saving others, like so many other first responders,” Siller said.

—Jeff Louderback

The GOP, Midterms, and the Economy

Since President Donald Trump took office in 2025, the stock market has jumped 33 percent, and the administration says job numbers are up as many Americans are receiving some of the largest tax refunds in history.

In August 2026, 162,000 jobs were added, significantly beating expectations of around 53,000, while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.1 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

​Trump highlighted those points when addressing the crowd on opening night, saying: “The typical American’s 401(k) has gone up by almost $50,000, and unemployment claims have reached the lowest level ever recorded.”

The president also promised a $5,000 dividend from tariffs to every adult citizen if Republicans keep control of the Senate and House this November, prompting some criticism.

“Will post-conservative Republicans also try to defend Trump’s $5K ‘dividend’ socialist vote-buying scheme that would cost nearly $1 trillion?” asked former GOP Virginia Rep. Bob Good on X.

Overall, inflation has eased to around 3.4 percent, down from a record 9 percent under the Biden administration. However, the sharp rise in prices largely stemmed from the pandemic.

Gas prices have eased since President Joe Biden was in office, but they have recently ticked up because of the war with Iran. On Wednesday, the national average price for a gallon of regular gas was $4.22, about a dollar higher than $3.19 a year ago.​

Convention attendee Rodney Stokes of Fort Worth told The Epoch Times he finds it interesting that affordability appears to be the buzzword heading into the midterms.

“It’s funny with the economy because, like, you know, under Biden it really wasn’t even talked about at all, and then Trump gets [in], and all of a sudden everyone’s talking about affordability,” he said.

While people may be complaining about gas prices at around $4 a gallon nationwide, he remembers when they peaked at more than $5 a gallon under Biden.

“I know that Iran with the oil, that’s a big problem,” he said, but he gives Trump credit for doing something about Iran’s goal of building a nuclear weapon.

Likewise, tariffs and securing the border stand to bring long-term prosperity, but he acknowledged that Americans aren’t particularly patient.

​“These are things that are making a real difference, maybe not in the short term, but not too long of a term,” he said.

—Darlene McCormick Sanchez; Janice Hisle; Stacy Robinson

BOOKMARKS

Epoch Times editor Ivan Pentchoukov’s high school was about 500 feet away from the South Tower on 9/11. In his latest editorial, he writes about that fateful morning.

The U.S. Navy is evaluating what to do with its headquarters in the Middle East after the Bahrain-based installation sustained damage during recent months of fighting with Iran. Check out Ryan Morgan’s exclusive report for more.

A federal appeals court has declined to let the Trump administration enforce a new U.S. Postal Service rule that changes mail-in voting requirements before the midterms. Massachusetts District Judge Indira Talwani had blocked the rule multiple times.

Trump says he will give $500 rebate checks to nearly 1 million people who allegedly were “wrongly overcharged” through the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. “Our administration is doing the right thing and giving the money back to the people who were wrongly ripped off,” Trump said in a video address released through the White House’s X account.

State Rep. David Morales defeated Providence, Rhode Island, Mayor Brett Smiley in the Democratic mayoral primary this week. The 27-year-old member of the Democratic Socialists of America will square off against Republican David Talan in November.

—Stacy Robinson