Navy Veterans Complete 20-Day Ride to NYC, Raising $17,000 for 9/11 Tribute

Q: After 30 years apart, what Persian Gulf bond pushed two Navy veterans to survive a grueling 3,500-mile cross-country cycling journey?

It was the bond forged as shipmates in the Navy’s Combat Information Center during two Persian Gulf deployments. Jim Serger and Cory Hardy first met aboard the USS Independence in Yokosuka, Japan, and worked side by side during those Gulf tours. Serger said they also backpacked through Asia together and became best friends, a friendship that endured even after they went 30 years without seeing each other in person. That shared service experience appears to have been the foundation that carried them through the 3,500-mile ride from San Diego to New York. Their journey was not just an athletic feat but an extension of the sense of duty and camaraderie they built in uniform. Both men tied the ride to patriotism, remembrance and honoring those lost on 9/11, along with service members and first responders. Their military connection also helps explain why they were able to withstand the ride’s hardships, including extreme heat, flooding, road closures, flat tires and daily 170-mile efforts. In short, the “Persian Gulf bond” was a deep friendship and shared mission born from serving together aboard the USS Independence and through two Gulf deployments.

1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Aug 22

Jim Serger, 55, and Cory Hardy, 51, reached Lower Manhattan on Aug. 2 after biking from San Diego in 20 days to mark the upcoming 25th anniversary of Sept. 11.
More than $17,000 has been raised for Tunnel to Towers, the nonprofit the two Navy veterans set out to support after reuniting for the first time in 30 years.
About 170 miles a day carried them through 20 road closures, flooding and fire in Colorado, plus flat tires and altitude challenges before an FDNY, Port Authority and NYPD Honor Guard welcome at Ten House.
Twenty-five firehouse stops turned the ride into a broader tribute, with the pair handing out Tunnel to Towers books and hearing increasingly personal 9/11 stories as they neared Shanksville, the Pentagon and New York.
The veterans said the trip underscored a national message they wanted to reinforce before the anniversary: remembrance of 9/11 victims, first responders, service members and Gold Star families should not fade.