BOSTON (WHDH) - A retired flight attendant is making his way from Boston to New York with an airline beverage cart to pay tribute to those who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001.
Paul Veneto, 64, a Milton native, is currently in the process of following the flight path of American Airlines Flight 11, which was hijacked after taking off from Boston’s Logan International Airport. Veneto’s plan is to push the beverage cart through Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York before arriving at Ground Zero in Manhattan on Sept. 11.
He said his goal is to preserve the legacy of his colleagues who died that day.
“Twenty-two years ago I came up with the idea to draw enough attention to get these guys recognized around the world. I wanted their families, wherever they lived, to hear it from all of us that they were American heroes,” Veneto said. “They stood up to terrorism and were the first first responders.”
On Sunday, Veneto was given a sendoff from the 9/11 Memorial at the Boston Public Garden. Then, he began pushing his cart.
He was escorted by police from Boston, Brookline, and Newton on the first day of his 210-mile journey. As of 4 p.m. Tuesday, Veneto was passing through Mendon.
The retired flight attendant worked for United Airlines from 1997 to 2013, according to his biography on his website.
Last year, he pushed his cart 300 miles from Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey to the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pa.
In 2022, Veneto walked from Dulles International Airport in Virginia to the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. in memory of American Airlines Flight 77.
On his inaugural trek in 2021, he walked 220 miles from Logan to Ground Zero in New York City in honor of United Airlines Flight 175 — the flight he had worked aboard just before its last flight.
Those looking to track Veneto’s progress can do so on a live map on his website.
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