From Dulles to the Pentagon: Braintree man makes second push to honor 9/11 flight crews

BRAINTREE – The route was much shorter this time, but Paul Veneto said the recognition he won for the flight crews who died in the 9/11 attacks was greater than the first time he walked in their honor.

On Sunday, the former flight attendant pushed his airline drink cart to the 9/11 Memorial outside the Pentagon, finishing a journey that began Sept. 8 at Dulles International Airport.

"Paulie's Push II" covered the 35 miles, representing the final trip of American Airlines Flight 77. The Boeing 757-200 plane crashed into the headquarters of the Defense Department, killing the 58 passengers and six crew members on the Los Angeles-bound flight and 125 people in the building.

Veneto started his journey in the same lounge where the crew members prepared for their trip and went out the same gate onto the tarmac. Air traffic was stopped as Veneto traveled under a water arch made by two airport fire trucks.

The send-off told Veneto that he  has succeeded in his mission to gain recognition for the four flight crews who died that day.

"I'm not doing it for me," Veneto said after returning to his Braintree home. "I think I've awakened the world to the fact that these people are heroes: the first first responders."

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The flight attendants assisted the passengers while facing the same fate themselves, he said, even getting out word of the hijackings to people on the ground.

Last year, Veneto, 63,  pushed the cart from Boston's Logan Airport to the 9/11 Memorial at the World Trade Center in New York City. He was following the route of United Airlines Flight 175, a flight he regularly worked. Sept. 11, 2001, was his scheduled day off, and he knew all seven of the flight attendants who died in the hijacking.

Veneto said  that during his journey this year, he was approached by many people who wanted to share their stories, including firefighters and police officers who rushed to the Pentagon on 9/11, airport workers who handled the flight, and others who were working in the building that day.

When he finished mid-afternoon Sunday, he said a man in his early 20s wanted to share the story of his father, who died at the World Trade Center that day.

"This was very healing for them," Veneto said.

He had to delay his arrival at the Pentagon due to the security surrounding President Biden's appearance at the memorial ceremony.

Veneto originally intended for last year's push to be a one-time event, but the people he talked to along the route inspired him to  travel the routes of all four flights.  He was helped by an anonymous Hingham man's donation of a recreational vehicle to serve as support. He said officials at Washington-Dulles Airport, American Airlines and Virginia couldn't have been more helpful in the planning.

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He said he hopes to follow the route of United Flight 93 from Newark,  New Jersey, to Shanksville, Pennsylvania, next summer, a 300-mile journey, which Veneto said will take about a month. He  wants to start planning the route next week, but said he would need to secure a corporate sponsor for the trip.

He  aims to do the route of American Airlines Flight 11, which originated in Boston, on the 25th anniversary of the attacks in 2026.

The loss of his colleagues on 9/11 had a profound effect on Veneto, who was a flight attendant for three decades for several airlines. While he continued to fly for another decade after 9/11, he developed an addiction to opiates. Sunday also marked his seventh anniversary of sobriety.

This year's push raised money for Operation Homefront, which provides financial assistance to military families in need.

Reach  Fred Hanson at fhanson@patriotledger.com.

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This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Paulie Veneto of Braintree completes second push to Pentagon