9/11: 20 years later Paulie’s Push to Honor & Remember
Each day, thousands of Flight Attendants across the globe get dressed, and headed to work. Every meal, every snack, every beverage, stocked in place in the galley, beverage carts ready to roll down the aisle of every plane, in every city.
The morning started like any other day for most people, unaware that what was going to unfold would forever impact hundreds of thousands of lives. People got up, got dressed, and headed to the airport. For Paulie Veneto, a flight attendant with United Airlines, it was something he and his coworkers did regularly, though fate would keep him from being in the air that day.
This was not a regular day, on this day almost 3000 bright lights with bright futures would be extinguished. This was the day that almost 3000 people wouldn’t come home, this was the morning of September 11th 2001, almost 20 years ago. Four flights took off on what would be their final journeys, and the loss of life would be immense.
American Airlines Flight 11
American Airlines Flight 77
United Airlines Flight 175
United Airlines Flight 93
At 8:52 am, Paulie’s coworker Robert Fangman called a United Airlines maintenance office in San Francisco and spoke with Marc Policastro. Fangman reported the hijacking and said the hijackers were likely flying the plane. He also said both pilots were dead and that a flight attendant had been stabbed. At exactly 9:02:59, Flight 175 crashed nose-first into the southern façade of the South Tower of the World Trade Center at approximately 590 mph (950 km/h)
At 10:00 am, on the morning of September 11th, the flight recorder captured the voice of a hostage on United Flight 93 yelling “Roll it!” Their yelling was followed by the sound of the passengers using a food & beverage cart as a battering ram against the cockpit door in an attempt to retake the plane. At 10:03:10, the last piece of flight data was stored on the recorder, as the plane went down. The 9/11 commision determined the hijackers remained at the controls but must have judged that the passengers were only seconds from overcoming them.” Many of the passengers’ family members, having heard the audio recordings, believe the passengers breached the cockpit with the cart and struggled to take control of the yoke of the plane.
Paulie was scheduled to work on United Flight 175, but fate kept him off the plane that morning. He wasn’t however spared from the pain, the terror of that day, which took a heavy emotional toll and he began using opioids to numb everything. For 15 years Paulie was stuck in addiction, struggling with demons that seemed inescapable. Paulie is now in recovery, having overcome his addiction, still battling every day to have those passengers and crew recognized as some of the First Responders to the hijacking of those four flights.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the terror attacks of September 11th, and in honour of the men and women onboard those 4 flights, Paulie Veneto, now retired from his job as a flight attendant, plans to mark their sacrifice with a journey of his own. Starting at Logan International Airport in Boston, Paulie will be pushing a beverage cart emblazoned with the logos of American Airlines and United Airlines to Ground Zero in New York.
Paulie’s Push will be raising funds for 9–11 crew members’ family’s registered not-for-profit organizations, and the Power Forward Foundation, one of our American partners in their continued efforts to establish Power Forward Sober Living Scholarships for those dealing with addiction.
To support Paul on this epic journey of hope to honor and remember the fallen 9/11 crew members, visit pauliespush.com to learn more about this amazing tribute. You can also follow Paulie’s journey on Facebook and Instagram.
