SAVANNAH, Ga. -- The Tunnel to Towers Foundation has paid off the mortgage on the Savannah home of fallen Sergeant First Class Lance Vogeler as part of their 2024 Season of Hope.  Season of Hope delivers the gift of homes for the holidays. This year, Tunnel to Towers will provide over 40 families a mortgage-free home between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve.   Sergeant First Class Lance Vogeler joined the Army in May 2001, after he saw a poster in a recruitment office for Army Rangers. After graduation from the Ranger Assessment and Selection Program, he was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, where he served as a gunner, fire direction chief, fire direction computer, squad leader, and mortars section leader.  Throughout his career, SFC Vogeler was deployed seven times to Afghanistan and four times to Iraq, all in support of the War on Terror.  On October 1, 2010, SFC Vogeler was killed in action during a heavy firefight while conducting combat operations in Afghanistan, leaving behind his wife Melissa, who was pregnant with their son Colin.  He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star Medal, and the Meritorious Service Medal. Tunnel to Towers paid off the mortgage on the family’s home in Savannah, Georgia, where SFC Vogeler and Melissa first met.  “I always worry about ensuring Colin has everything he needs and is taken care of. This donation will give us more security for the future and allow me the opportunity to provide more resources for him if needed,” said Melissa Vogeler.  The Tunnel to Towers Gold Star Family Home Program honors the legacy of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice while serving our country by paying off the mortgage or providing the surviving spouses and young children with mortgage-free homes. “The Vogeler family has spent nearly 15 holidays without their hero.  We can’t imagine what a decade apart is like for them, but we hope that by paying off their mortgage, they can continue to focus on their future needs without this looming financial burden,” said Tunnel to Towers Chairman & CEO Frank Siller. By the end of 2024, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation will have delivered over 200 mortgage-free homes to our heroes and the families they left behind.