Photo via PauliesPush.com.
Paulie Veneto completed a 219-mile journey, where he pushed a beverage cart from Boston to Ground Zero in New York in honor of flight crew members who died on 9/11.
After 22 days, the 62-year-old Braintree man reached his destination on September 11th. A retired United Airlines Attendant, Veneto wanted flight attendants to be recognized as heroes for their actions on 9/11.
“The enormity of that day, when those towers came down, everybody forgot about what happened the beginning of that day,” said Veneto. “I knew it had to be done, it’s unfortunate it took 20 years, but it was important for me being a fellow crewmember… nobody’s ever said ‘your relative, your sister, your brother, your mother, or your father was a hero that day.’ This country, when somebody stands up against terrorism, as far as I’m concerned, that’s an American hero. That’s what they did, and we know that from the phone calls.”
He credits flight attendants for alerting authorities and keeping passengers calm in the face of imminent danger.
Despite frequently working Flight 175 from Boston to Los Angeles, he had September 11, 2001 off, and it sent him into a tailspin of opiate addiction. He was able get free in 2015.
“When I got to Ground Zero, it was mixed emotions, because I had family members there. It was nice to see the look on their faces. In the years I was caught up in the opiate addiction, I saw the despair in their faces,” said Veneto. “To see the joy in their faces, and then to see Amy Jarret’s family there – her father, her brother, her sister to meet me there. A lot of mixed emotions, but I knew what I was going to do, I was going to get his thing done.”
He said they were able to raise more than $100,000 for charities including Power Forward, which supports sober living scholarships. Funds will also support charities for families of flight attendants.
“It’s turned out more than I could have ever imagined. I’m just grateful, my whole mission was to get the flight attendants recognized, and I feel I did that,” said Veneto. “Now more people are being helped because of what I did.”
He left Logan Airport in Boston with the impending soaking rain and wind from Hurricane/Tropical Storm Henri.
“My guys that were with me said ‘you’d be lucky to do five miles today,’ I ended up doing 18 that day,” said Veneto. “I knew I was ready at that point. Nothing was going to stop me; I knew that from the beginning.”
Rather than the destination of New York City, he focused on the journey one day at a time. He says the support every step of the way was tremendous.
“It was everybody. Every age bracket, there were teenagers, young kids, people from nursing homes, hospitals coming out, it was everybody,” said Veneto. “It was amazing to me.”
Videos and more information can be found at PauliesPush.com.
