RECAP

This year’s journey was much less arduous than last year: just over 30 miles instead of 200. But from everything that I saw during my four days on the road between Dulles International Airport and the Pentagon Memorial, it meant just as much to the families, and to my fellow flight crew members, as well.

To those of you who helped make this year’s Push possible - donors and supporters both - thank you so much - I couldn’t have done it without you! Now, at long last, a full recap of the week’s events…

DULLES SENDOFF

We began the Push from the American Airlines staff lounge, where I was invited to speak with both airline and airport personnel; I had the privilege of listening to their stories, as well. This was a very powerful moment for me - I’ve said this a lot, but airline employees understand each other, especially when it comes to what happened on 9/11 - and we don’t get to talk about it a lot.

I can’t thank the flight crews of American and the team from Dulles enough for putting this together… you made this day one I’ll never forget.

The folks at Dulles had worked hard in putting together a special sendoff. That followed immediately afterwards, as we exited the American gate directly onto the tarmac where two fire trucks were waiting. These folks shut down the runway while I walked underneath - then they escorted my crew to meet me at the Dulles Marriott, the official starting point of this year’s Push. What a special way to kick off this year’s Push!

On the first day of the Push a gentleman showed up outside the airport with a very large American flag. He sort of stood off to the background before we began walking, but I had a chance to speak with him during the walk - he was Thomas Heidenberger, a former American Airlines captain and the husband of Flight 77 flight attendant Michele Heidenberger.

It was an honor to walk with you, sir.

PUSH TO THE PENTAGON

Much of the rest of the first day was spent on the roads of Loudon County, VA, where the Sheriff’s motorcycle team gave me and my team (and members of the media in tow) an escort to get us through the county safely. We certainly appreciated that.

We also had the opportunity to meet members of the Hernden Police Department, once we crossed over into Fairfax County. They were kind enough to walk with us on the trail, and they lead us straight to their headquarters, where they fed us pizza and soda and loaned us Wags, the police dog, for a little while.

That’s me with Wags. The folks from Hernden told me he really took to me!

Another highlight of this year’s Push: our stop in Vienna, VA, where the fire commissioner had arranged for a rest stop and the mayor made a special trip so the two of them could walk with me. Pushing with a town is so much more impactful than pushing through a town, so to each person in the towns we went through who came out and met us - thank you so much!

I really enjoyed speaking to members of the department, as well - some weren’t even alive when 9/11 occurred, but they live in the shadow of it and I appreciated being able to share my story with them.

While we were walking into Vienna the local NBC news affiliate was hovering overhead - that footage would appear on their news programming over the next few days. (See below).

Much of our route found me on a recreational bicycle and pedestrian trail system throughout Virginia. So many cyclists and walkers stopped to find out what I was doing, pushing a cart on their trail - and a number of them got off of their bikes and walked with me for a while. I loved that. So many were affected by 9/11, and many had stories of working in the Pentagon, or near the Pentagon. Some were first responders in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. Being able to hear their stories was powerful, and I appreciated the opportunity, as well as the chance to share my experiences pushing my cart.

We ended day two with a very special visit to the firehouse in the City of Falls Church, VA. They were awaiting my arrival with members of my team, and noticed on the tracker that we’d somehow missed the trail exit to their firehouse - so they brought a firetruck to pick us up!

I’ve met many firefighters during my two Push journeys, but this was my first fire truck ride!

On the last two days of the Push my family flew in from the northeast to walk alongside me. I can’t tell you how much that support means to me - to all of my family who joined me, and to family members who joined me via phone and Zoom throughout the week - thank you!

On day three we were back on the city streets as we pushed through the city of Arlington. That meant getting to meet new people, many of whom had seen coverage of the Push on the news and knew I was coming by.

Entire families were waiting to speak to me as I passed by along the route.

One little girl grew her own tomato, and wanted me to have it as I passed… of course I gave her a Paulie’s Push sticker in return. A gentleman passed me on the street, and came back - he said he went home and visited the website, and was moved to gather all of the bottled water he had at home and drive it back to me!

Karen Murphy is a flight attendant who went through training at United with me prior to 9/11. Last year she met me and walked with me in the rain on my route to Ground Zero; this year she came out to see me off, and did an interview with Scripps TV on day one. It felt good to have her support, and the support of all of the flight attendants who came out.

At one point we met Troy Anderson and his family. Troy is the son of Tom Anderson, the race director of the Amy King Memorial 5K race in Jamestown, NY. Amy was one of my colleagues at United, and was on Flight 175 on 9/11, and her family has hosted a race in her memory every year since 2001. Troy read the story of our Push to Ground Zero Troy and reached out to me, asking if I’d mind if he did something similar, pushing a cart in the race in memory of Amy; of course I told him I’d do him one better and come and do the event myself. In 2021 my team and I spent Thanksgiving weekend in Jamestown, NY, meeting the King family, and the Anderson family, and making I expect will be lifelong friends. We also made a donation to a playground at the YMCA in Amy’s name. Troy actually lives in Washington, DC, and he and his family came out to see me and to walk alongside me on our second-to-last day. That meant a lot!

I’ve said many times in interviews - I don’t actively reach out to families because I don’t want to re-open old wounds. As families hear about Paulie’s Push on the news, or see it shared on social media, some reach out to me. Crewmember families are the most important part of all of this, so being able to connect with them is amazing!

PENTAGON MEMORIAL

On 9/11, right on schedule, we made it to the Pentagon. Amazingly the rain stopped as we descended the hill; by the time we’d arrived at the memorial the sun was even breaking out. Amazing!

The Pentagon Memorial is a beautiful tribute to the lives lost on September 11, 2001. It is made up of 184 illuminated benches, arranged according to the victims' ages, starting with age 3 and going all the way up to age 71. Each bench is engraved with the name of a victim. The benches honoring those who were inside the Pentagon are arranged so those reading the names will face the Pentagon's south facade, where the plane hit; benches honoring those aboard Flight 77 are arranged so that those reading the engraved name will be facing the path the plane traveled. It’s amazing, the amount of thought that went into this.

As I walked around the Pentagon Memorial people came up to me to share their stories. As we were leaving we noticed a young man and woman standing nearby, looking at the cart for quite some time, but not speaking. I’ve learned that so many who grieve on this day do so quietly. I went back and forth about speaking to them at first, but finally finally turned to them and asked if it would be okay if I shared what I was doing with them.

They agreed, so I explained that Paulie’s Push is an effort to honor those I felt, in the enormity of the unbridled heroism of that day, weren’t really recognized as heroes. “The first, first responders,” I told them. Then I asked how old they were - the young man said he was 22 - and I told them how many young people his age don’t really understand the magnitude of what happened that day, but that I’ve met so many along the Push to Ground Zero and the Push to the Pentagon who stopped to talk to me and were genuinely interested in what I was doing. I told him about one young man, the son of a Boston-based United ticket agent, who approached me last year and asked if I knew his father. I had, and he’d asked me to tell him what I remembered about him.

This young man today waited until I was finished, and he thanked me for what I was doing. Then he shared with me that he’d lost his father in the Towers. They lived in Washington, DC now, and had come to the Pentagon Memorial to honor and remember him. We ended the conversation by promising each other to continue our efforts to make sure people #neverforget.

Young man, it was an honor to meet you at the Memorial that day. I lost friends - members of my ‘work family’ on 9/11 - but you lost your family. I can’t imagine how difficult that day must be for you. I am so very glad that our paths crossed the way that they did, and I thank you for being willing to share your story with me. If there was a more perfect way to end this Push for me, I can’t think of it.

You may remember that I had started the beginning of this Push walking alongside Thomas Heidenberger, the husband of #AA77 flight attendant Michele Heidenberger. His support helped keep me going each day afterward, so it was a special honor to finish it beside her light bench at the Pentagon Memorial.

Several of the journalists and camera people I met told me that they were among the first on the scene at the Pentagon way back on September 11, 2001. It’s amazing how many ways this one event touched so many lives across DC, across the United States, across the world.

Speaking of media, I’m told that every single Washington DC television station came out to cover the story at some point during the Push, and we had lots of inquiries from around the country as well. Several stations came back a few times during the week to keep their viewers updated, including NBC DC, which sent that helicopter to search for us - so cool!

If you’re interested in seeing some of the media coverage: