NJ Sister Remembers Big Brother Killed In 9/11 Attacks

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — Every September after 9/11, Laurie Tietjen and her entire family dutifully traveled from Monmouth County into Lower Manhattan, to attend services to honor her older brother.

Ken Tietjen, 31, who grew up in Middletown, was one of the 37 Port Authority police officers killed that day. He was last seen by his partner running into the burning South Tower. Moments later, the tower collapsed.

But at some point, about six years ago, it just got too sad to keep going to Ground Zero, said his sister.

"That's not how my brother would have liked to be remembered or have the day remembered, really sad like that," said Laurie, 49.

So on the seventh anniversary of the attacks, Laurie pivoted and did something unique: She made and ordered a whole bunch of food and sandwiches and showed up at random fire houses in New York City.

"It was just my way of thanking the guys for being first responders," she said.

Little sister Laurie and Ken (he is only a year and a half older than she is) grew up "their entire lives in Middletown." They both gradated from Middletown High School North and Kenny, as she calls him, was well known in the area. She now lives in Holmdel, and he moved to Matawan after becoming a Port Authority police officer. However, he was still an active volunteer firefighter with Belford Engine Co.

The second year Laurie did the food drop-off, political comedian Jon Stewart, who lives nearby in Monmouth County, contacted her.

"He just said 'Hey, can I come with you?' When he first started coming, I'll be honest, a lot of the guys were skeptical," she said. "I mean, his show is liberal and that was when a lot of people were coming down on police officers."

But since then Stewart has become a fierce advocate for 9/11 first responders, and fought for Congress to fully fund the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. It was his 2019 speech on Capitol Hill, which Laurie calls "epic," that really made him a hero.

"He's the only celebrity that 20 years later continues to fight for these guys," she said. "Now when he walks into firehouses he gets a standing ovation. Jon and his wife have helped us so many ways behind the scenes, away from the cameras, with donations, time and more."

Middletown boy born on the Fourth of July

Ken Tietjen got his start as a Middletown Police Explorer, meaning he was one of the children who participated in police camps and youth programs with the Middletown Police Department.

"It's funny because he was born on the Fourth of July and as a kid, he always hated fireworks and loud noises," laughs Laurie. "So when he told our family as a teenager that he wanted to become a police officer, we all started laughing. We were like, 'Kenny, you hate loud noises!'"

Ken actually wasn't even supposed to work on Sept. 11, 2001; he was scheduled to be off that day. But Laurie said he wanted the overtime.

He got to work at 6 a.m. and was at the 33rd Street PATH station when the first plane hit, she said.

"I was also working in New York at the time, but that day I had to go to a meeting in Parsippany," she said. "The funny thing is everyone started calling me, asking if I was OK. We watched it on the news in the office and I just kept thinking, 'Those poor families.' Then half an hour later my mom called me and told me Kenny was down there. We had no idea he had even gone into work that day."

Ken's partner relayed to the family what happened next: The two jumped off the PATH train, ran up onto the street and commandeered a yellow taxi cab.

"Kenny was driving like a lunatic, driving over sidewalks to get down there," she said.

Both men ran in and out of the burning North Tower multiple times to help people escape, his partner said. They were then radioed to go to the South Tower, which unknown to everyone was on the verge of collapse. The air was also filled with soot and smoke and it was nearly impossible to breathe.

Ken's partner told the media there was only one remaining breathing mask between them; in a now-famous quote, Ken grabbed it and smiled, saying "Seniority rules." He ran into the South Tower lobby to give first aid to a woman on the ground. Moments later, the South Tower collapsed. Ken's body was never recovered.

"He was in the lobby,"recalled his sister. "The tower came down on him."

Laurie is not surprised by what her brother did that day and she also said he died doing what he loved: Being a police officer.

"He loved it," she said. "There wasn't a day that went by that he didn't come home with some crazy story about something that happened at work or practical jokes he would play on other guys in the locker room."

This Saturday, the twentieth anniversary of the 2001 terror attacks, will be an extremely busy day for her: First, she has been invited to speak at the Monmouth County ceremony at 8 a.m. at the top of Mount Mitchill.

She will then attend the 9/11 memorial 5K hosted by the Middletown PBA. This year, more than 300 Middletown residents will run from the Middletown WTC Memorial Garden down to the Raritan Bay.

They will then head into Manhattan and drop off food for various police stations and fire houses. Laurie said the fire houses know she is coming, but they have no idea Stewart will show up with her; "the guys will be completely surprised."

Then Laurie will race back to Middletown to attend Middletown's Sept. 11 service at 6 p.m. at the memorial garden. "I'm going to be tired!" she said.

"Most 9/11 charities have disappeared; there are only a handful of us left"

Laurie thinks of her older brother every day, not just on the twentieth anniversary of his death.

After he was killed, she started the Ken Tietjen Memorial Foundation. It is made up of her and other first responders who "fill in the blanks" for people who need help, she said.

Her non-profit has very strong relationships with many local police agencies in the area — Keyport, Middletown, Holmdel, Union Beach, Keansburg and Atlantic Highlands — and those departments call her group when they need help.

"We've helped get medical care for kids who don't have insurance, we work with local women's shelters to fulfill their Christmas wish lists or outfit their apartments when they leave the shelter. We will also mentor kids who are having disciplinary trouble in school and pair them with a police office. In COVID, we bought groceries for seniors who could not leave their homes."

The non-profit has been her entire life for the past twenty years.

"To me, it just started as a way to wake up every day and do something that made Kenny's sacrifice worth it," she said. "Sadly, most 9/11 charities have disappeared; there are only a handful of us left. And I'm not gonna lie, there are times when I'm just like, I'm too tired, this is too much work. And the other first responders who volunteer with me say, 'Oh no, Laurie we're not letting this go.'"

"9/11 makes people remember how valuable police officers really are," she said. "I heard Jon Stewart say once it's possible to be supportive of police while at the same time holding them to the highest standard. And I think that's what we all believe."

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