Updated

Updated · Fox News · Aug 19

Tunnel to Towers Hauls 16,900-Pound 9/11 Beam 10,500 Miles as 25th Anniversary Nears

Updated

Updated · Fox News · Aug 19

Tunnel to Towers Hauls 16,900-Pound 9/11 Beam 10,500 Miles as 25th Anniversary Nears

Q: With 343 mortgage-free homes being awarded, what hidden criteria determine which brave first responder or veteran receives this life-changing gift?

There is no evidence of a “hidden” standard. The available criteria described by Tunnel to Towers are public and program-based. For mortgage-free homes, the foundation says it prioritizes Gold Star families and families of fallen first responders with young children, especially when the service member or responder died in the line of duty or from service-related or occupational illness, including 9/11-related illness. In those cases, the program typically pays off the family’s existing mortgage so the surviving spouse and children can remain in the home. For injured recipients, the standard is different. Tunnel to Towers says it provides specially adapted mortgage-free smart homes to catastrophically injured veterans and first responders whose disabilities require accessible housing. Examples in the related reporting, including veterans surprised during the Steel Across America tour, fit that model rather than an unexplained selection process. So the real determinants are not secret but mission-driven: the nature of the sacrifice, whether the death was duty-related or illness-related, whether there is a surviving spouse with young children, and whether an injured veteran or first responder has severe long-term physical needs requiring a custom home. The foundation also frames the 343-home target as a symbolic tribute to the 343 FDNY firefighters killed on 9/11, but that number does not appear to create a separate hidden eligibility rule.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Aug 19

A 16,900-pound, 21-foot steel beam recovered from the South Tower is on the final stretch of a 10,500-mile Tunnel to Towers tour meant to bring a Ground Zero memorial to communities nationwide.
The truck left Lower Manhattan on May 2 and is crossing more than 20 states, with stops at museums, town squares, sporting events and the White House before ending at MetLife Stadium and returning to Ground Zero on Sept. 11.
Florida's Emma E. Booker Elementary School—where President George W. Bush learned the U.S. was under attack—hosted one stop in May, joined by former White House chief of staff Andy Card.
Tunnel to Towers says the tour is meant to preserve memory of the attacks for younger generations as the 25th anniversary approaches, while the foundation also plans to deliver 343 mortgage-free homes this year in honor of the 343 FDNY firefighters killed on 9/11.