Tunnel to Towers Foundation honors fallen Air Force hero by paying off Santa Barbara Gold Star family’s mortgage on Veterans Day

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — This Veterans Day, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation has paid off the mortgage on the Santa Barbara home of Julia Fraas and her two daughters, honoring the legacy of her late husband, U.S. Air Force Master Sergeant Steven Fraas. MSgt. Fraas died on August 8, 2014, following an eight-month battle with a rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma attributed to toxic burn pit exposure during his service in Iraq. He left behind his wife, Julia, and their two young daughters. “It is hard to put into words the relief and gratitude I feel. I never imagined something like this happening for our family, and I think I am still trying to process it,” said Julia Fraas. “It means security and peace of mind, but it is also more personal than that. My husband passed away when our girls were just 1 and 3 years old. Santa Barbara is his hometown and where he dreamed of raising them. Now I know our girls will always have a home where their dad wanted them to grow up.” “When a membe