Retired Flight Attendant Honors Colleagues Who Died on 9/11

There was only one way retired flight attendant Paul Veneto could think of to honor the memory of his former colleagues who died on United Airlines Flight 175, one of four planes hijacked by terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001.

And he did it literally and symbolically.

Veneto walked from Boston to Ground Zero in New York City, leaving on August 21 and arriving exactly on Saturday, Sept. 11, the 20-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. All the while, Veneto did it while pushing an airline beverage cart along his journey.

Veneto had several friends and colleagues working on the flight crew of United 175 that took off from Boston’s Logan International Airport on the morning of that fateful day.

The plane was one of two that slammed into the World Trade Center twin towers in New York.

The 62-year-old Braintree, Massachusetts resident set off by foot on the 220-mile trip from Logan to lower Manhattan in late August and averaged a little more than 10 miles a day.

Veneto had been a regular staffer on United Flight 175′s Boston to Los Angeles route but had taken the day off on 9/11. He’s said the survivor’s guilt triggered a 15-year prescription drug addiction.

Veneto decided to embark on the walking journey, which he dubbed “Paulie’s Push,” in order to honor the pilots and fellow crew members who died.