In honor and memory of the crew of United Flight 93: Captain Jason Dahl; First Officer LeRoy Homer Jr.; Flight Attendant Lorraine Bay; Flight Attendant Sandra Bradshaw; Flight Attendant Wanda Green; Flight Attendant CeeCee Lyles; and Flight Attendant Deborah Welsh.
In honor and memory of the crew of United Flight 93: Captain Jason Dahl; First Officer LeRoy Homer Jr.; Flight Attendant Lorraine Bay; Flight Attendant Sandra Bradshaw; Flight Attendant Wanda Green; Flight Attendant CeeCee Lyles; and Flight Attendant Deborah Welsh.
30 days. 300 miles. The longest push is underway now...
In 2021 retired flight attendant Paul “Paulie” Veneto pushed an airline beverage cart from Boston-Logan International Airport to Ground Zero to honor and remember the flight crews of 9/11, including his own colleagues on United Flight 175. He believed that, in the enormity of everything that happened that day, the ‘first, first responders’, as he often calls them, had not received the recognition that they deserved. His drive and determination, as well as his personal battles with opiate addiction in the wake of that day, inspired a following across the country and around the world. When the Push was over, he knew that the movement needed to continue, and he (and his team) decided that a Push to honor each of the four flights that perished on September 11 were in order. In 2022 Paulie pushed his cart from Washington-Dulles International Airport to the Pentagon National Memorial in honor of American Flight 77. Later that year travel website/blog ‘The Points Guy’ bestowed upon Paulie its 2022 ‘Hero in Travel’ Award.
In August 2023 Paulie began the farthest Push yet: Newark Liberty International Airport to the Flight 93 National Memorial in Stoystown, Pennsylvania. It will be a journey of 30 days and 30 nights, and of 300 miles. Follow Paulie’s journey below, or on our social media accounts, as he honors the heroics of the flight crew of 9/11, and those aboard United Flight 93. To watch his progress in real time, visit our live link.
Pennsylvania
Crowds greeting Paulie had grown steadily as we headed west through New Jersey, but we were unprepared for what would happen heading into Easton, PA. A post we created in the Everything EASTON Facebook group began getting share after share after share.
From Paulie: “This may be the first time I have communicated with a family member via FaceTime right from the road. This lady met me on the street in Easton. She was very excited to meet me because her sister is a flight attendant with American Airlines going on 35 years. She pose for a picture which she said she was going to share with her sister, and then she asked if it would be all right if she FaceTime’d her instead. Of course! A few minutes later, all three of us were talking, and her sister has since written to let me know that she is hoping to make it to Shanksville for my arrival and plans to probably wear her flight attendant uniform. I love it!”
The spectacular sunflower field at St. Luke’s Anderson Campus turned out to be the perfect stopping-off point for the day, and an ideal place to reconvene the following day. We were told that, ordinarily, this beautiful spectacle would have been in full bloom a few weeks earlier - weather this year lead to a late bloom. That worked out perfectly for us!
The next morning would find a group of more than a dozen people waiting to see Paulie off. After a conversation that lasted at least 30 minutes, photos, and more than a few hugs, Paulie would be pushing again…
Our gratitude to the folks from the Bethlehem Township Fire Department, who escorted us much of the way along our route through (and beyond) Bethlehem. They even donated a case of bottled water and gave us a tour of the fire house. Thank you for helping keep Paulie safe!
Above: Johnston Park provides a beautiful backdrop aa Paulie takes a break for a media interview while the crew takes a lunch break.
Below: A ‘media day’ in Bethlehem, as reporters from NBC Philadelphia and Allentown’s Morning Call newspaper pay Paulie a visit.
From Paulie: “Tonight me and my team were eating dinner when a couple leaned over on their way out the door and said “Keep pushing, Paulie - and be safe out there,” I was taken aback, because I’m not used to being recognized when I don’t have an airline beverage cart a few feet away from me, but my crew and I thanked them and, after they left, I told my team that word must really be getting out about what we’re doing! A moment later, the restaurant manager stopped over to let us know that the couple who had just left had covered our tab. Let me tell you, I may have just pushed almost 15 miles, but nothing was stopping me from getting out the door and across that parking lot to catch up with them and tell them thank you. They were almost to their car, and they would have been perfectly happy to leave with just an encouraging word and a kind, and anonymous, gesture…”
On our way back to the hotel. I got a message on Facebook from someone else who said she’d been at the restaurant and had wanted to wish me well, but didn’t want to disturb our dinner. Folks, you heard it here first: you can *never* disturb me, at dinner or anywhere else. Meeting people along the way is what it’s all about. Whether I’m pushing the cart, or you see me and the team out once the day’s Push is done - please feel free to come up, introduce yourself, and say hello! I keep saying just the Push lets me meet the nicest people. It seems I *almost* meet some of the nicest people, too. I can’t wait to meet more of you in between here and Shanksville… And to the couple pictured here - thank you very much.
Paulie’s Push has been the subject of dozens of newspaper articles, but the entire team still gets excited and takes time to pick up a few copies of any paper a new article is written in…
Text
