Retired flight attendant begins final "Paulie's Push" to honor 9/11 victims, "I made a promise"

An airline beverage cart being pushed down Newbury Street in Boston may look a bit strange, but not for retired United Airlines flight attendant Paul Veneto. The 67-year-old Milton resident has begun his trek to Ground Zero in New York City, better known as "Paulie's Push."   

"I'm just glad I can do this and bring people together," he said. 

Veneto will travel 220 miles, through 60 cities and towns over the course of 28 days. He said that each step he will be thinking of the lives lost during 9/11 and everybody who has been impacted. 

"I think of what they must have endured that morning on those airplanes," he said

"Paulie's Push" began in 2021, 20 years after the attacks. Since that day, Veneto has traveled the path of each flight.

"I made a promise, all of us did, after 9/11 to never forget. I made a promise to myself to make sure these crew members of these aircrafts were honored and recognized for their heroics; that's why I started Paulie's Push," he said.

This year marks 25 years since the 9/11 attacks and Veneto will have officially pushed the cart a total of 1,000 miles. He wanted to ensure that dozens of communities were involved in finishing out the journey and has called it "Everyone's Push."

"I went and got four more beverage carts and designed each one for each airplane. And the pictures of the crew members are on each one of those [carts] on the top. We want the public to take part and kids who were not alive on 9/11 to see communities coming together," he said.

Debbie Calimano is a flight attendant from Jersey and has been part of the team for the past few years. 

"I'm honored to be part of the team because being a flight attendant, I think of 9/11 every day I go to work," she said.

You can find Veneto's schedule online if you'd like to participate in "Paulie's Push."