Retired flight attendant honors 9/11 flight crews by pushing beverage cart 200 miles

(Image credit: AP Photo/Mary Schwalm)

published 16 September 2021

It took more than two weeks for Paul Veneto to walk from Boston Logan Airport to lower Manhattan, and he wasn't alone on his journey — he carried with him the memories of his friends who worked on United Airlines Flight 175, which crashed into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

Veneto, 62, is a retired flight attendant, who regularly worked the Flight 175 route but was off on Sept. 11. On the 20th anniversary of 9/11, Veneto decided he wanted to not only honor the flight crews who lost their lives that day, but also raise money for their families. He called his fundraiser Paulie's Push, and it involved him walking from Boston to Manhattan, pushing a beverage cart.

He traveled more than 200 miles, arriving in Manhattan on Saturday. Along the way, he stopped to meet with other flight attendants, first responders, and people who heard about what he was doing and wanted to offer him support. His beverage cart was decorated with photos of the 9/11 flight crews, and Veneto told The Associated Press in August that it is his mission to ensure they are recognized, adding, "We all can tell this country and the world that these crew members were heroes on 9/11."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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