Man Honors Fallen 9/11 Flight Crews By Walking From Logan To NYC

MILTON, MA — Retired flight attendant Paul "Paulie" Veneto, 62, of Milton has started his journey of pushing a drink cart from Boston's Logan Airport to Ground Zero in New York City to remember flight attendants and crew members who were lost in the hijackings on September 11, 2001.

Rain or shine, Veneto will push an airline beverage cart more than 200 miles with the main goal of paying tribute to the flight attendants who he says showed unbelievable strength and courage under the worst conditions.

The former United Airlines flight attendant scheduled a day off for September 11, 2001, only to watch the horrors unfold on the sidelines.

"I am doing this because I want these crew members' families to know how courageous they were that day," Veneto said in a statement on his website. "I want the public to understand that under those conditions that morning, what those crew members did, nobody could have trained for."

Veneto is using the journey to raise money for the victims' families as well as their foundations and to collect donations for those struggling with addiction.

Veneto said the nightmares of that day sent him spiraling out of control to numb himself out.

"That day sent me into a tailspin of opiate addiction that almost cost me my life," Veneto said. "After almost 15 years of numbing myself out from the thoughts of that day, I have finally been freed from addiction since 2015."

Now sober for six years, Veneto says "Paulie's Push" is his way of giving his tribute to his fallen crew members with images of the flight numbers displayed on his cart as he treks the journey.

Veneto left Logan Airport on Saturday, August 21 with plans to make it to Ground Zero by September 11 - twenty years after the terrorist attack.

You can get more information, donate, and even follow Veneto on his journey here.