VIDEO: Paulie’s Final Push Honors Flight 9/11 Flight Crews
LOWER MANHATTAN —Retired flight attendant Paul Veneto arrived at ground zero on the afternoon of Sept. 11 after completing a more than 200-mile journey from Boston to New York, pushing a United Airlines beverage cart in memory of the crew of Flight 175.
Veneto’s journey, known as “Paulie’s Push,” began at Boston Logan International Airport and ended at the 9/11 Memorial in Lower Manhattan.
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United Airlines Flight 175 was hijacked on Sept. 11, 2001, and crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center.
Veneto worked alongside members of the Flight 175 crew but was not working on Sept. 11.
“I think about them every day when I’m pushing the cart. I have their pictures on top, and I think of the heroics,” Veneto said.
For Veneto, the journey is deeply personal. But along the more than 200-mile route, his tribute also became a way for communities to come together and remember the lives lost on 9/11.
Children and community members joined Veneto along the way, taking turns pushing the carts and helping carry his message to New York.
“That was really amazing to have young kids push these carts in the middle of the street and see how they’re experiencing what happened to all of us after 9/11,” Veneto said. “We saw communities coming together and people cheering.”
The journey was inspired by Veneto’s personal connection to the Flight 175 crew and his desire to honor the people he worked alongside.
As he reached ground zero, Veneto said the magnitude of what he had accomplished was difficult to put into words.
“Oh, I get emotional. I think about the enormity of just what I started there is bigger than I could even imagine,” he said.
Veneto was not alone on his journey. Four other donated beverage carts also traveled with him, representing firefighters, police officers, first responders, and others who answered the call after the attacks.
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The carts became a moving memorial, helping Veneto recognize the heroism of those who responded to the tragedy.
“We came together as communities and as a country after a devastating event. It rocked the whole world, you know?” Veneto said.
Veneto said he made promises to himself to ensure the heroics of the Flight 175 crew would not be forgotten.
“I couldn’t have planned this. I mean, I really couldn’t have written a story,” he said. “I made promises to myself to make sure I could recognize the heroics of these crew members. And I believe I did that.”
After more than 200 miles, “Paulie’s Push” reached its destination at Ground Zero, turning one man’s personal grief into a tribute that brought communities together to remember the victims and heroes of Sept. 11.