The family of U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Bradley Scott Bohle — killed in the line of duty on Sept. 16, 2009, in Afghanistan — was among 35 Gold Star Families in the U.S. to have their home mortgages paid in full by the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, an organization created after 9/11 to support the nation’s first responders, veterans and their families.

Bohle’s wife Lizzie and their two daughters live in Broadway and are one of seven families residing in North Carolina among the 35 nationally. 

Scott Bohle was assigned to Fort Bragg before his deployment and had been in the military since graduating high school in 1998. He was a medical sergeant in the 7th Special Forces Group and was on his second deployment in Afghanistan when his vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device while conducting a mounted patrol in the Afghan city of Ghur Ghuri.

“Bradley Scott Bohle dedicated his life to serving his country, and it is an honor to provide stability and support to his wife and daughters with this mortgage payoff,” a spokesperson from Tunnel to Towers Foundation told The Rant.  

The organization began the mortgage pay-off gesture in 2014 following the deaths of two NYPD detectives, Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu and vowed to continue the act for every police officer or firefighter killed in the line of duty. The Foundation launched the Gold Star Family Home Program in 2018 with the same goal in mind for servicemen and women killed in the line of duty. 

Tunnel to Towers Foundation was created to honor the sacrifice of FDNY firefighter Stephen Siller, who died on Sept. 11, 2001. His siblings started the Foundation to carry on his legacy.

Other North Carolina families receiving mortgage pay-offs this week include the families of the following fallen service members: 

  • U.S. Army Specialist Steven Alexander Davis (Fayetteville)
  • U.S. Army Master Sergeant Nathan Lee Goodman (Holly Springs)
  • U.S. Army First Lieutenant Justin Shawnsonte Smith (Kenly)
  • U.S. Army Sergeant Roger Leeroy Adams Jr. (Wilmington)
  • U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sergeant William (Billy) Joseph Kundrat (Holly Ridge)
  • N.C. Air National Guard Major Ryan Scott David (Blowing Rock)

Today’s announcement was made during the Foundation’s Veterans Day name-reading ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. The event is honoring the 7,070 military personnel who died in America’s military response to Sept. 11, 2001. 

The Foundation hosted a private ceremony at Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6018 in Fayetteville, where families were presented with documents confirming the mortgage on their homes had been fulfilled.