I don't know how long a post can be so I'm going to break this one up into several posts, if you'll indulge me.

Newfoundland has a sad connection to the modern day 101st Airborne. On December 12, 1985, Arrow Air flight 1285, a DC-8-63 charter carrying 248 passengers and a crew of eight crashed upon takeoff at Gander International Airport killing everyone on board. Most of the dead were members of the 3d Battalion, 502d Infantry, 101st Airborne Division; eleven were from other Forces Command units; and one was a CID agent from the Criminal Investigations Command. It was the largest one day loss in the 101st Airborne Division’s history. They were returning home to Fort Campbell, Kentucky from a six-month peacekeeping mission in the Sinai with the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO). The MFO’s mission was to implement security provisions contained in the 1979 Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty. The flight had left Cairo, Egypt and landed in Cologne, Germany. After a stopover there, it took off for Gander, Newfoundland, Canada, landing there to refuel.

When the plane crashed, local firefighters and rescuers had to make their way through the forest to put out the resulting fire. They were met with a gruesome scene. A local fellow wrote on a website about the crash, “My uncle was the first person on the scene of the crash...he was a military police officer in Gander at that time, and anytime I ask him about the crash, he breaks into tears. He saw what no human should ever have to see.”

U.S. Navy personnel stationed at Gander were the first Americans at the site and assisted the Airport officials and Canadian Forces personnel stationed in Gander in securing the site. According to the rules established by the International Civil Aviation Organization the responsibility for investigating an airplane crash rests with the country in which it occurred. The RCMP conducted recovery operations, mapping out the crash site into numbered grids. A hanger at the airport was used as a temporary morgue. The U.S. Army sent up a team of pathologists and grave registration specialists to help recover the remains and begin the task of identifying them. U.S. Navy personnel at Argentia also became involved in helping with the logistical and communications work. Three days later the RCMP stated that they thought they had recovered all the remains, but pathologists at Air Force Port Mortuary at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware where the remains had been flown, later determined that there were still two soldiers unaccounted for.

A snowfall made it difficult to continue with the search. They had to build shelters over each part of the crash site, and use propane burners to melt the snow. Finally by early February, they found the remains of the last soldier under the roots of a tree which they believed had been knocked over during the crash, and the body ended up in the cavity under the tree, which somehow sprang back up, hiding it from view.

Why did the plane crash?

The cause of the crash is still under contention all these years later. According to the Associated Press, an anonymous caller claimed responsibility on behalf of Islamic Jihad, but this claim was dismissed by both the Canadian and U.S. Governments, stating that the plane didn’t explode until it hit the ground. The Canadian Aviation Safety Board (CASB) was split down the middle, with five investigators concluding that the plane stalled because of icing on the wings. They also mentioned problems with an engine, and slow takeoff speeds. Four of the investigators disagreed vehemently with this. They believed there was an in-flight detonation from an explosive or incendiary device causing an on-board fire and a massive loss of power before it crashed. But they couldn’t establish a direct link between the suspected fire and the loss of power. Of course in the absence of a definitive answer, other theories, including conspiracy theories, have emerged. You can check out the official reports, and some of the other theories at this website:

http://www.sandford.org/gandercrash/

The creator of the website subscribes to the bomb theory, and mentions numerous suspicious incidents that occurred in Cairo before the plane was loaded. I am not endorsing that theory by putting the link here, it just happens to be a site with the official reports, and his own theory.

In a letter in the guest book on the website, Clyde Roach, a pilot and flying instructor who had flown the particular plane that crashed (it was once owned by Eastern Airlines) wrote about the investigation he did when he was asked to testify at a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of the second officer of the crew. He disputes both the icing and bomb theories, believing that the plane was overloaded, one engine lost power, and the pilots reacted incorrectly.

Two different soldiers had expressed concerns to relatives about the plane. According to a Canadian Press report, one of them, Captain Edward J. Manion, called his wife 48 hours before he left Cairo, and told her he had “no confidence in that plane.” He said, “I’m going to survive the Sinai, but I’m not going to survive the trip home on the plane.” Another soldier, Specialist Jeff Kee had sent a tape back to his fiancee in which he said” “I just hope.. everything goes alright...I hope the plane gets back all right, cause.. the plane we fly on is really bad.” (Reported in The Evening Telegram, December 17, 1985)

The Canadian government wasn’t satisfied with the inconclusive report, and appointed a former Supreme Court Justice to review the record of the crash. His report was equally ambiguous. In 1990 the U.S. House of Representatives conducted a two-day hearing on the accident, which focused on the role of their agencies in the investigations. The fact that there was no definite cause established, has just added to the families’ pain. The guest book of the website I’ve mentioned has numerous posts from families of the victims, and it’s obvious that their grief is still quite strong, seventeen years later.

http://www.sandford.org/gandercrash/guestbook

Vee

Silent Witnesses - the Memorial in Gander

A memorial park called “Silent Witnesses”, has been built on the crash site in the memory of the soldiers who died. I wondered who the “Silent Witnesses” were, until I read the commemorative plaque. They are the trees that surround the crash site - "Silent Witnesses of the precise moment when 256 dreams ended.”



I visited the memorial park recently and took the following pictures. You can see the crash site as it exists today in the picture below. The cleared area you see in the picture would have been heavily forested before the crash. The crash site is quite huge, and even today there is very little growing on it.



I don’t know if it is the custom elsewhere, but in Newfoundland you will see small white crosses with flowers on the side of highways, where there has been a fatal car crash. Obviously it isn’t a grave site, the body would have been buried in a cemetery. But the families of the dead wanted to place a memorial at the spot where their loved one’s life came to an end. After the recovery work had been completed, and the site was no longer restricted, someone planted this cross which is still there all these years later.



A memorial statue was designed by a Newfoundlandler and sculpted by a man from Kentucky. It depicts a 101st Airborne peacekeeper, clasping the hands of two children. Visitors have placed little American flags in their hands.



In the days after the crash, the members of 9 Wing Canadian Forces Base Gander had provided security at the site. Later they erected this plaque with the names of the 101st Airborne Division soldiers who died.



The statue and plaque are located about two thirds of the way down the slope of the crash site on a ridge. Below that ridge at the bottom of the crash site is the “Cross of Sacrifice”. The cross has a piece of the emergency exit door from the aircraft imbedded in it. On the door piece is the inscription “Rendezvous with Destiny.” This was taken from the U.S. Army’s General Order that created the 101st Airborne in 1942, which said that the division had “a rendezvous with destiny”.



At the top of the site people have taken stones and pressed them into the ground into the form of little crosses. It is quite touching.



The ground slopes down towards Gander Lake, which is visible in some of the pictures. Each time I’ve been there I’ve wondered, if only they had had more altitude, could they have landed on the frozen lake? They were so close to it.

As I left the site when I took these pictures, a large U.S. Air Force transport plane took off on the same runway that the Arrow Air flight had seventeen years ago and it flew right over me. The runway lights are on either side of the Transcanada Highway, so the planes fly directly over it. Watching it pass right over the crash site, I had to wonder if those aboard realized why there was a huge clear area in the woods below them. If there were any soldiers onboard (rather than supplies), they would probably only have been young children when this happened, so they would have no personal memory of it.

But I remember it. I was living in a town only an hour and half away at the time. One of the things that made this crash particularly sad was the fact that these soldiers were returning home just before Christmas. Many of the Christmas presents that they were bringing back were strewn over the crash site and in the trees. Most of the soldiers would have been young, so you can imagine how much their families were looking forward to having them back home, safe and sound for Christmas. They would have been making plans to meet them at the airport later that day, excited and happy. Anyone who’s had close family living away, knows what that’s like. You look forward to it for so long, imagining what it will be like when you’re all together. Then to get that awful news. I can’t even imagine how horrible that must have been.

As I drove into the site, there was an older couple just leaving, getting into a car with Kentucky licence plates. They were just the right age to have had a 20 year old son in 1985. In some ways I was glad that I wasn’t there at the same time they were, intruding on what would have been a painful and private moment for them, but in other ways I was sorry that I hadn’t had a chance to talk to them and express my condolences. l would like to have told them that what happened here had not been forgotten by Newfoundlanders. Every time I’ve stopped in here on my way across the island I’ve found people paying their respects.

The Canadian Forces Base Gander military personnel have participated in annual memorial services in their honour of the dead soldiers each year. Below is a link to last year’s service.

http://www.beforetheysleep.com/anniversary...y_service17.htm

A few days after the crash, Cynthia Goodyear, a clerk who worked at the duty-free store at the airport talked to a reporter with the Newfoundland newspaper The Evening Telegram.

“Goodyear remembers a blond, hatless American who bought presents for his mother and father. He left the shop with a money clip inscribed with the words Super Dad, and a set of crystal glasses for his mother. “He had the glasses on the tip of his fingers and he was kind of swaying around dancing to the music. My friend said, “Oh, he’s going to drop them and break them.” We just looked at him and smiled, and he didn’t.” Goodyear said she noticed that Christmas music pumped through the airport was coming in extra loud. But the Americans didn’t mind. “They were singing away, clicking their fingers, “ Goodyear says. “They were really happy”. Many of the Americans were “baby-faced youngsters who looked 18 or 19 years old”, Goodyear said...Goodyear who came off her overnight shift after the Americans left to board the plane, hasn’t been able to sleep since the crash. Their plane exploded as she was driving on the highway leaving the airport... “I keep hoping I’m going to wake up and find out it was all a dream.” (The Evening Telegram, December 16, 1985.)

Vee

H. Greening of Botwood, Newfoundland wrote this poem about the soldiers. It now hangs in the Gander International Airport terminal. It expresses the sentiments of the people who last saw them alive.

Final Flight by H. Greening

“Dawn is breaking as the aircraft touches down
Its seats are filled with soldiers, for Christmas homeward bound
They leave the plane to stretch their legs, and have a look around
It's good to be in the open air and walk on solid ground.
The air is filled with laughter as these gallant men step down
They're singing Christmas carols, not one soul has a frown
They walk into the gift shop, some gifts for to buy
Perhaps it is a tee-shirt or some precious little toy.

They laugh and joke with all the staff, joy shows on their face
They're going home for Christmas, when they leave this little place
Their laughter fills the gift shop, they're a happy joyful band
A soldier buys a tee-shirt "We survived Gander, Newfoundland."

Meanwhile on the tarmac, their plane is filled with fuel
No one there is thinking that this world can be so cruel
They call and shout to others, as once more they board their plane
Not one of them are thinking "We won't walk this earth again."

They quickly fill the aircraft and settle in their seat
Not knowing that their Maker, they very soon would meet
The aircraft leaves the terminal, and taxis to her berth
In just a few more seconds she'll be leaving mother earth.

They were heading for Kentucky, their loved ones waited there
But only moments later they were torn from the air
The aircraft failed to gain its height and plunged to the ground
Two hundred fifty-six were dead, not a living soul was found.

To loved ones they left behind, we think of you today
And share with you your sorrow, and bow our heads and pray
May God above give unto you, eternal rest and peace
you know they served their country in the far off Middle East.

Now their work is finished, on earth they are no more
They're waiting up in Heaven on God's eternal shore
Some day we'll meet them up there, never again to part
But now we'll treasure memories and lock them in our heart.”

Rest in peace boys.

Vee

I joined 1/502nd a little over a year afterward and the Battalion was still reeling from the loss. Against Army policy, the majority of the Bn officers were on the plane that crashed and all of the Bn headquarters officers. During the 3 year period from Gander to when I left in 88, over 300 soldiers from the 2nd Brigade died from accidents, including the 250 from 3rd Bn. Our Bn Cmdr had a heart attack and died on a Bn PT run (one of my buddies who I went to high school with was in formation right behind him and tripped over him). 2nd Bn lost almost 30 in 2 seperate helicopter accidents. Several people died from Heat Stroke. Understand that the entire Brigade is in the same common area, barracks next to barracks, HQ's in the same building. The morbid jokes about the 3rd Bn 'Widowmakers' were really not funny.

Peace time isn't easy either.

Matt

Vee, very moving. The story, the way in which the Canadians have commemorated it, and your post.

Thank you very much. y.o.s., Doug

Thank you for posting this Vee.
I had no idea of this horrific tragedy. I would have only been 3 years old.
I hope to one day visit Gander and when I do, I will have to visit this place and pay my respects

Krystin

Very sad, but also great work Vee


Andy

Thankyou Vee for posting that, i never knew about it. Would have been 4 years before i was born.
Like to go there one day.
Di.

Hi Matt,

How many Battalian headquarters officers would that have been? What happened afterwards? Did they promote people to fill the gap?

There's a picture that appeared in The Evening Telegram taken at Fort Campbell after the crash showing a soldier crouched down on the ground with his head in his hands. It must have been a very sad time there.

Doug, Krystin, Andy, Luz - thanks for your kind words. I appreciate it.

Vee

I remember that fiasco. My reaction was to be annoyed at how the government always goes to the low bidders.

That was a horror. I was very upset at the time.

Vee,

I don't recall, but as memory serves, the Bn Cmdr, XO, S-1through 4, and half of the Company commanders. Really wiped them out.

I'm sure they brought it officers from various places. In the peacetime army, the highest ranking officer doesn't get the highest slot if they can bring in others from other places.

Matt

I was at the Gander Airport while attending a Snowbirds airshow and saw two plaques inside the terminal related to the crash. One was from the Department of the Army and was presented to the Staff of the Gander International Airport. The inscription read:

For your outstanding contributions in the recovery effort following the December 12, 1985 aircraft crash which took the lives of 248 soldiers of the United States Army.

Next to it was a second plaque is from the 101st Airborne.



The inscription reads:

Presented to the Staff of the Gander International Airport. From the Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division (AASLT) and Fort Campbell Community in Grateful Appreciation for your Support and Assistance to our fallen Screaming Eagles and their families.

Vee

thanks hwap.

I was down at Benning when it happened. I remember that all the health and dental records for the Bn were on the plane and lost also. This just complicated identifying the remains.

The conspiracy therorists had a field day with this for years.

What on earth did those jackasses have to say?

well lets see...

there was a bomb on board

it was shot down by a SAM

the pilot augered it in on purpose

it was carrying chemical weapons that were released on board

ABC fanned the flames showing on 20/20 a Lynn Scherr report that showed a large crate being guarded by soldiers during the cleanup. they also alledged that some of the damage didn't fit with a crash of that type.

The crate probably contained the troops individual weapons. When we went back and forth we crated them, MFO was unlike any other deployment in that reguard. But the weapons would of had to be policed up and accounted for anyway. No crate like that could of survived the crash anyway. I remember getting called in and hashing out theories with some of the CI folks, but couldn't come up with a real valid threat.

Since there has been no real cause put on the crash it leads towards this type of speculation.

I recall quite well that horrific accident. I remembered it was US Army soldiers, but until now I didn't know they were 101st. I am glad the good folks of Newfoundland have done so well in memorializing them.

Cheers!

Mark

This was a crusher. The final paragraph of Vee's post tells a dimension to the story that makes it very, very personal to those good people in Newfoundland. There were some citizens who had smiled at and talked with and shared the enthusiasm of the upcoming holiday, not to mention the excitement of returning home after a deployment.

In the years since, I've often wondered how those folks have carried that experience within them. Not an easy thing to file away, I'll wager.

Quite right, Mark. The Newfoundlanders have done beautifully to memorialize that awful event and pay honor to the lost as well as those who witnessed it. Just a sad, sad tragedy. BK

The last time that I visited the site, I noticed that someone had placed pennies on many of the stones that had been pressed into the ground in the form of crosses. I'm pretty sure they weren't there when I took these pictures that are in this thread. I've never heard of any custom where pennies are left on stones or a memorial. Has anyone else?

Vee

I haven't seen that with regard to memorials. However, in Japan, you will find stone statues scattered throughout the countryside. These are called Jizo and are protectors of travellers, expectant mothers, children, etc. You will often find offerings of small coins and fruits and vegetables placed on them. They also often have hats and coats knitted for them to keep them warm in winter. The following website has a few pictures.

http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/jizo1.shtml



Kampai!

Mark

I remember those from when I was in Japan. They were everywhere.

Some of them have phallic designs.

Here is a link to a website that shows pictures of the Fort Campbell, Kentucky memorial for the 101st Airborne soldiers killed in the crash in Gander in 1985.

http://screamingeagles__10.tripod.com/on_december_12.htm

The pictures are at the bottom. If you click on them you'll see a larger version.

Vee

This is a nice story that I came across that relates to the 101st Airborne Tragedy described in this thread.

Commentary: Stop to salute on Memorial Day

By Capt. John Rasmussen

EAGLE BASE, Bosnia and Herzegovina (Army News Service, May 22, 2002) -- It was raining "cats and dogs" and I was late for physical training.

Traffic was backed up at Fort Campbell, Ky., and was moving way too slowly. I was probably going to be late and I was growing more and more impatient.

The pace slowed almost to a standstill as I passed Memorial Grove, the site built to honor the soldiers who died in the Gander airplane crash, the worst redeployment accident in the history of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).

Because it was close to Memorial Day, a small American flag had been placed in the ground next to each soldier's memorial plaque.

My concern at the time, however, was getting past the bottleneck, getting out of the rain and getting to PT on time.

All of a sudden, infuriatingly, just as the traffic was getting started again, the car in front of me stopped.

A soldier, a private of course, jumped out in the pouring rain and ran over toward the grove.

I couldn't believe it! This knucklehead was holding up everyone for who knows what kind of prank. Horns were honking.

I waited to see the butt-chewing that I wanted him to get for making me late.

He was getting soaked to the skin. His BDUs were plastered to his frame. I watched-as he ran up to one of the memorial plaques, picked up the small American flag that had fallen to the ground in the wind and the rain, and set it upright again.

Then, slowly, he came to attention, saluted, ran back to his car, and drove off.

I'll never forget that incident. That soldier, whose name I will never know, taught me more about duty, honor, and respect than a hundred books or a thousand lectures.

That simple salute -- that single act of honoring his fallen brother and his flag -- encapsulated all the Army values in one gesture for me. It said, "I will never forget. I will keep the faith. I will finish the mission. I am an American soldier."

I thank God for examples like that.

And on this Memorial Day, I will remember all those who paid the ultimate price for my freedom, and one private, soaked to the skin, who honored them.

http://www4.army.mil/ocpa/read.php?story_id_key=876

Vee

Thank you to all that remember. My life was forever changed that dark December day. My high school sweetheart, and husband was one of the soldiers killed. He was only 19 and had so many good things to look forward to. I'll never forget the kindness of the people of Clarksville, Tennesse when my Mom brought me to the memorial service. The soldiers that came to Oregon for Jeff's honor guard will always have my thanks. It helps to know that people remember them. Thank you Vee for your heart felt posts.

Lorie
widow of PFC Jeffrey Dean Hull, A company, 3rd of the 502nd

Lorie,

*SALUTE*

STRIKE AND KILL!

We remember. We will never forget

Matt
1/502nd 87-88

Lorie, my respects, and my condolences for your loss.

Thank you for looking in here, and for your message. I think Vee's travelling, but I know that your post will mean a great deal to her when she sees it.

I hope you will stay and look around the boards. Again, my respects. Doug

Please add my respects and condolences, Lorie.

Welcome to the board. You'll find people here with a lot of respect for our personel in uniform. Past and present.

As Matt said, we will never forget.

Sue

Lorie, we will never forget; my sincerest respects and condolences to you, and as Doug stated please do stick around; you'll find great company here.

Very sincerely,
Tom

Lorie,

Welcome, thank you and God bless you.

We are honored to have you join us.

Paul

Lorie, I am so thrilled and gratified that you saw my post.

I can see from visiting some of the related websites and reading the messages left by families of the soldiers that the pain of that loss is still felt after all these years. It doesn't seem so long ago to me.

I had pointed out that people had left pennies on some of the crosses they had created out of stones pressed into the ground. When I was in Philadelphia and we saw Benjamin Franklin's gravesite, there were coins all over it. I am still curious about this? Does anyone know if this is a new custom?

Vee

I took a lot of photos of the memorial when I was there the last time. They have a brick wuth the troops names at the base of each of the trees at the memorial. I was there for Veterans Day and they had a flag for each tree. It was quite breath taking and heart breaking I iwll post some of the photos later. What a trafic loss for the 502 and America. Cindy

The bare trees make it so stark and more affecting.

Where/when were these taken?

Sorry Jonelle I thought I said where, I took these at Ft Campbell on Veterans Day when I was seeing Dusty off. It is equally stunning when the tress are all full of the different colors when Fall first begins, as it is when the leaves are full of life. The only time I havent seen it yet is during the winter, and I am sure it has an even different look and feel during the winter months. Glad you liked the photos.

Cindy, thanks for adding those pictures. It makes the whole thread more complete seeing both memorials.

Vee

Gander deaths remembered
Families return to post to honor 248 loved ones lost in 1985 plane crash
by Michelle Gordon, Courier Staff

Maj. Jeffrey Price Sr. | 160th Infantry Regiment
Soldiers give a 21-gun salute in Sinai, Egypt, in memory of the 248 101st Airborne Division Soldiers killed in a 1985 plane crash. Ceremonies were held at Fort Campbell, Hopkinsville, Gander and in Sinai Monday.
The mood at Monday’s memorial ceremony for the 1985 Gander crash was solemn. Old friends, forever bonded by tragedy and grief, greeted one another with hugs and tears.

They huddled together for comfort and warmth on the cold December day, a scene reminiscent of the memorial service held 20 years earlier.

The crash was, and remains, the worst U.S military air disaster in recorded history, claiming the lives of 248 Fort Campbell Soldiers and eight flight crew members. Monday marked the 20th anniversary of the tragedy. More than 200 people attended the ceremony organized by Soldiers from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team.

In the days and weeks immediately following the disaster, the families looked for answers, what had caused the crash, could something have been done to prevent it? Twenty years later, they are still looking.

“I just wish we could find out what really happened,” said Dorla Dumpert, mother of Sgt. Brian Dumpert. “That’s all. We’d just like to know why.”

Retired Army Col. Lewis Millett, Medal of Honor recipient and former Currahee, traveled from California to attend the service in honor of his son, Sgt. John Millet. Through teary eyes he recalled hearing about the crash on the news. “He called us from Germany the day before,” Millet said. “The next night, we were watching the T.V. and we heard about the crash.”

Dumpert and Millet are not alone in their quest for answers. Col. Dan York, former Company B commander of 3rd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, spoke to the families about tragedy and how he has found peace.

“As I look back on Gander and think about that horrible tragedy, one of the things that pops in my mind is the issue of focus. If we focus on the disaster, where 248 of our peacekeepers were killed, several things happen. We can’t explain a tragedy that’s confounded by mystery and still to this day remains a mystery -- we can’t go anywhere with it.”
York encouraged the families to focus on something greater, something beyond the tragedy and the mystery surrounding it.

“We remember tragedy, we honor those that we love, we think of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice, but there must be something greater that we can focus on. Let’s focus on peace.”

The mission of 3-502nd was to maintain peace between the nations of Egypt and Israel. York reminded the families that their loved ones successfully completed their mission and they did not die in vain. The price of peace is on-going and that Soldiers continue to pay the ultimate price to help others obtain peace and freedom.

“In my pocket I have a coin,” York said. “It’s scared. It went through the crash and was pulled from the crash. It’s an air assault Sinai coin and I carry this -- it’s my reminder that freedom costs something.”
http://www.fortcampbellcourier.com/article.../news/news1.txt

Between the reponse to the crash and their welcoming of stranded travellers on and after 9/11, Gander should get some kind of metal or award from the US.

Matt