Sept. 11 tribute visits West Orange

Retired flight attendant Paul “Paulie” Veneto is pushing a beverage cart from Newark-Liberty International Airport to the Flight 93 National Memorial in Stoystown, PA. to draw attention to the flight crews who lost their lives in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The day before he began walking towards Pennsylvania, Veneto joined flight attendant Deborah Calimano at the Essex County Eagle Rock 9/11 Memorial in West Orange at 10 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 13.

Calimano is a flight attendant based in West Orange. She was instrumental in helping have a flight attendant memorial added to the Essex County 9/11 Memorial and she hosted Veneto during his visit to West Orange.

Veneto previously pushed an airline beverage cart 220 miles from Boston’s Logan Airport to Ground Zero in 2021 to mark the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

“Paulie’s Push” is Veneto’s effort to recognize the heroism of the “‘first, first responders’ of September 11” – the flight crews who perished that day. Veneto was a United Airlines flight attendant in 2001, routinely scheduled to fly Flight 175 but not on that day.

“In the enormity of everything that happened on Sept. 11, 2001, with all of the heroes that emerged that day, I just felt that my friends and colleagues weren’t going to receive the recognition that they deserved,” Veneto said. “I wanted their families to hear it said: they died as heroes.”

In 2021 Veneto pushed his cart from Boston-Logan to Ground Zero. He followed that up with a push from Washington Dulles International Airport to the Pentagon in 2022.

Veneto feels that United Flight 93 has a special significance because, while less is known about the exact events that transpired on the other three 9/11 flights, investigators were able to determine that crew and passengers worked together to fight back against terrorists over Pennsylvania that day.

“The phrase ‘let’s roll’ has become synonymous with Flight 93,” Veneto points out. “Those aboard the flight that day are credited for saving lives by stopping that plane from reaching its intended target.”

Veneto expects to average around 12 miles a day with rest days tentatively scheduled for Allentown, PA and Harrisburg, PA. Followers of his journey can visit http://resport.io/Push3 to see his location in real time during the Push.

On Sunday, Sept. 10 Veneto and his team plan to visit the Flight 93 Memorial Chapel in Shanksville. The following day he’ll push the final portion of the journey, with plans to arrive at the Flight 93 National Memorial around noon on Sept. 11.

“To be able to play a part in the memorializing of these heroes is an indescribable honor,” Veneto said. “So many people are pitching in to help make this a reality – from the team at EWR, to the first responders along the way, and the team at the Flight 93 Memorial, and so many others – none of this would be possible without all of the support we receive from people who wholeheartedly believe in this mission. I am eternally grateful for it all.”

  Sept. 11, West Orange