Tunnel to Towers Sheboygan 5K Run & Walk

Almost 25 years ago, thousands lost their lives during the devastating attacks on September 11, 2001. That includes countless first responders who died in the line of duty. The Tunnel for Towers Foundation honors those who lost their lives that day, and two Sheboygan first responders are here to talk about how you can help their cause. Good morning. I want to thank you both. Sheriff, I want to talk to you. I want you, and Lieutenant, I want you both to introduce yourselves to our audience here. I'm Sarah, Lieutenant for the Thomas Sheboygan Fire Department. I'm Matt Spence, Sheboygan County Sheriff. And when we talk about 9-11, before we get into the event, I think that we've reached that area where a lot of people growing up, they weren't around then. They weren't born then. But take me back to when 9-11 happened. Where were you and what were you feeling and what was going through your mind at that time? I was just a child. I was only one years old at that time, so I was not remembering what happened that day. You're one of the people I was just talking about. Right, yeah. Yeah, I was in college, sociology major, so really kind of understanding the impact that it was going to have on our nation and really globally, the attacks on our home front. But even you being one years old at the time, now you're a part of this cause. You are rallying to support those that lost their lives and really just this moment in time that just devastated our country that so many still reflect on, obviously. As we look ahead to 25 years, what's on your mind now? As someone who you weren't aware when it was happening, but now you are. Right, the Tunnels Towers Foundation is so important because they raise money to help any first responder that is injured or killed in the line of duty and they raise money to help pay for their homes and help things mitigate what they need help with after those tragic things happen to them. So I'm very passionate about this foundation and what they're doing for the first responders now and they started because of something tragic, but they keep raising money to help going forward. And Sheriff, what's your why? Why are you rallying behind this cause? So our first responders give a lot every day, a lot of personal sacrifice, and it's the right thing to do to honor their memory, support the families that are affected by sometimes tragedies when the first responders do raise their hand and respond to that call for service. So the foundation does just that. It's positively impacted a number of Wisconsin first responders as well. Yeah. And I want to get into some of the details of the event. We have them on the screen right now. Is it too late to sign up? I know you guys were wanting people to sign up, wanting people to get involved, and we're actually going to try to be there live next weekend, too. So you have something to look forward to. Tune in. We're going to see you guys getting ready for the big event. But what's the sign up process right now? And give us the official event details. Sure. It's not too late to sign up. You can even sign up the day of when you show up. It starts at 9 a.m. next Saturday at the Town of Sheboygan Fire Department on County Road Y in Sheboygan. And it starts at 9. You do a 5K walk, and then after there's brats and burgers and different things going on after at the firehouse, too. Yeah. And Sheriff, when we talk about the sacrifice of first responders, could you even maybe put yourself in those shoes for just a moment? What is it like to run into a crisis, something that you have done, I'm sure, thousands of times in your career? Put us in that mindset of you already, obviously, you have the people that were inside of the two towers. And then you have the thousands of first responders that were relentless and going and making sure that they were still protecting those that were there. Yeah. So, you know, fortunately, I haven't had the situation like the Twin Towers. But you know, every situation is unique. And we're really, I guess I'm glad we have a supportive community. But that's why we serve. We both serve. We, you know, go to the situation where nobody wants to go and serve just to help our community out. Much like, you know, Stephen Tiller, the reason that this foundation is here, you know, got off from shift that morning, Rose raised his hand, he was going to go golfing and ran to the Twin Towers from where he was at almost three miles, henceforth the 5K that we have. Yeah. Wow. That's just so incredible to learn that story. For those who are watching at home, while each of you answer this, why should they come out and be a part of this event? It's a very, we do a huge opening ceremony, very moving. We have guest speakers coming to talk about their experiences with 9-11. And then it's a great, a great cause to support. Can you share? So one of the great things about our nation is we don't forget, you know, it take the time to remember the sacrifices, but then move forward and grow from there. And it's a good supportive community to really get out, remember our fallen, support the families and move forward. We will never forget. Thank you so much for both being here with us. And I'm hoping that someone's watching Tunnels to Towers 5K Run and Walk. This is happening next Saturday from 9 to 11. Thank you both so much for being here with us. We appreciate it. Thank you so much. Thank you. All right. We'll be right back with more Weekend Wake Up on the other side of the brink.