Central Kitsap firefighter Jamie Monroe was 6 when the twin towers fell in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001.
He acknowledges he's a member of the generation "that could forget about 9/11."
But Monroe, 26, has been battling pouring rain and sleep deprivation while pedaling a bicycle from Los Angeles to New York City with fellow firefighters to commemorate the 343 firefighters, other first responders and civilians who lost their lives as a result of the attack, according to Fire Velo, a nonprofit cycling club behind the trip.
"...I'm here to help make sure that doesn't happen," he told the Kitsap Sun recently during the group's stopover in Pennsylvania.
On Thursday, Monroe and 10 other firefighters are scheduled to finish a 40-day journey that started on Aug. 1 in Santa Monica, California, and ends at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum in New York City.