A retired flight attendant is pushing an airline drink cart more than 200 miles from Boston to New York to honor colleagues who died during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Paul Veneto, who worked for United Airlines from 1997 to 2013, left Boston on August 18, 2024, and plans to trek to Ground Zero in New York City – one step at a time. Veneto estimates that he will arrive at his final destination by September 11, 2024, which marks the 23rd anniversary of the terrorist attacks.
Veneto, who has been doing the trolley push since 2021, has started a foundation called Paulies Push to remember the 25 flight attendants who died during 9/11.
Every year the trolley push is dedicated to each flight that went down during the attacks. In 2021, Veneto pushed the trolley from Boston Logan Airport (BOS) to Ground Zero, dedicating the walk to flight UA 175, the second hijacked plane during the 2001 attacks.
In 2022, Veneto pushed the beverage cart 30 miles from Dulles International Airport (IAD) to the Pentagon, dedicating the push to flight AA 77, the hijacked flight that was deliberately crashed into the Pentagon.
Veneto did his longest trolley push in 2023 from Newark Airport (EWR) to Shanksville, Pennsylvania, an almost 300 mile walk dedicated to flight UA 93, the fourth and final passenger jet to be hijacked. Flight UA 93 crashed into an open field next to a wooded area in Stonycreek Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania.
The 2024 push is Veneto’s final walk and will be dedicated to flight AA 11, which was deliberately crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
Over the years, Veneto has received plenty of support, with some former colleagues even joining him on certain parts of the walk.
“In the enormity of everything that happened on Sept. 11, 2001, I felt that my colleagues needed more recognition. I wanted their families to understand: they died as heroes,” Veneto told Travel + Leisure.