"I was on a flight from London to New York and landed in Heaven."
I came across this book titled, “The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland,” by Jim DeFede. Now many have dissected, analyzed and covered 9/11 in every possible way, even myself in the paper on “Rhetoric of Terrorism” based on 9/11 and Mumbai 26/11 terrorist attacks. However, it is difficult for many to believe that anything written about the events of September 11, 2001 could make you smile and happy, but Miami Herald columnist Jim DeFede has penned a book that is all that, and more.
`The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland' describes what happened when more than 250 aircraft, prohibited from entering U.S. airspace due to the terrorist attacks, were diverted to Canadian airports. Of those, 38 planes bearing 6,595 passengers landed in Gander, Newfoundland, a town with a population of barely 10,000.
What followed goes a very long way to restore the faith in humanity and shake the cynics. So I decide to share some experiences I came across about the other side of 9/11, called ‘the human side.’
On 9/11, the US has shut down all air space; subsequently, planes that were supposed to land in NYC or DC were stranded in airspace, all planes were grounded in the United States, and that any planes flying into the U.S. airspace would simply be shot down. The situation was as brutal as that.
"They shut down U.S. airspace, period, and we had to pick up the pieces. I don't fault them for that. It was an absolute tragedy," recalls David Collenette, former transport minister of Canada. (AFP)
The Gander International Airport in yesteryear, when long haul flights were not possible was an important refueling point for transatlantic flights. On 9/11, around 40 aircrafts holding more than 6000 passengers landed in Gander, a piney little town of about 10,000 people on the northeastern end of Newfoundland, Canada.
With no exception, the communities of Gander (They call themselves `Newfies') opened their doors to welcome the stranded travellers of an unexpected refugee crisis. The buildings were hastily converted into makeshift shelters and townspeople opened up their homes, came out with food and gave up their own beds to strangers from almost 100 countries. They poured out such warmth and compassion that one passenger later remarked, "I was on a flight from London to New York and landed in Heaven."
"For the better part of a week, nearly every man, woman, and child in Gander and the surrounding smaller towns stopped what they were doing so they could help. They placed their lives on hold for a group of strangers and asked for nothing in return. They affirmed the basic goodness of man at a time when it was easy to doubt such humanity still existed."
The responses of people of Gander were truly extraordinary. They showed great generosity and kindness of the human spirit during that time. At such short notice they set up an emergency shelter for overnight stay, provided cots and clothes, and helped people contact loved ones.
A child, who turned four in Gander soon after 9/11, all his gifts were stuck on the plane he had been on, so to make him feel better, a local Gander family threw him a party.
Oz Fudge, the town constable, searched all over Gander for a flight-crew member so that he could give her a hug as a favor to her sister, a fellow law enforcement officer who managed to reach him by phone.
Eithne Smith, an elementary-school teacher, helped the passengers staying at her school, and put together letters to family members all over the world, which she then faxed.
Bonnie Harris, Vi Tucker, and Linda Humby, members of a local animal protection agency, crawled into the jets' cargo to feed and care for all of the animals on the flights. Hundreds of people put their names on a list to take passengers into their homes and give them a chance to get cleaned up and relax.
After all the planes had landed or turned back to Europe, Gander's air traffic controllers switched to cooking meals in the building nonstop for three days. "We went from air traffic controllers to cooks and cleaners of pots and pans," said Dan O'Brien, a supervisor with Nav Canada, the civil air navigation service, who brought passengers home to shower.
Doug Dillon switched from controlling traffic to delivering medical prescriptions to passengers in need. His father, Des, led the efforts for the Canadian Red Cross and his brother and mother, joined in the efforts to make the guests comfortable.
So did neighboring communities such as Gambo and Lewisporte.
One man gave the keys to his car to a young couple so they could have a break away from the emergency shelter.
The ‘Plane People’ recalls:
The stranded travellers of 9/11 are called the ‘plane people’ in this part of the world. Many of those “plane people” recalled their experiences.
Hannah and Dennis O'Rourke, who had been on vacation in Ireland, were helped to receive updates by telephone on the search for their son Kevin, who was among the firefighters missing at the World Trade Center.
A family of Russian immigrants, on their way to the Seattle area to begin a new life, dealt with the uncertainty of conditions.
"We were completely taken care of," recalls the passenger. "For everyone else, 9/11 has a heavy connotation. But for me it was when I was reminded what humanity is."
"Our whole world was in chaos. We didn't even know where we were except that we were in some weird time zone in Canada. I didn't know when I was getting home, but these people basically put their lives on hold. I mean, their kids couldn't go to school because we were using the schools as shelters,” another passenger.
"Bus drivers came off strike to drive us. Pharmacists came to the shelters and said 'What do you need?' and nobody asked for money. It's pretty incredible that they were able to respond like that, especially with short notice," another passenger.
“It still makes me cry when I think about it. They were incredible," recalls Barbara Groh-Wahlstrom, who stayed with the Salvation Army in Gambo and met her future husband there. "They had people working in the kitchen 24 hours a day and it turned out to be for five days. We were 187 passengers and they fed us three meals a day. They celebrated us like we were five-star guests. They were so full of love."
Diane Kirschke, a Texan, met Nick Marson, an Englishman. They married, and honeymooned in Newfoundland on the first anniversary of 9/11.
“We feel like we’ve healed a little bit more because we’ve had Gander,” remarked a passenger.
But the story doesn't end here; one of the Americans coming back was Shirley Brooks-Jones. She was so overwhelmed by the experience of 2001 that when her flight left Gander, she told her fellow passengers over the cabin address system that she wanted to set up a scholarship fund for students in Lewisporte, where they stayed.
The Lewisporte area Flight 15 scholarship fund is now worth close to $1.5 million and has put 134 students through school. Brooks-Jones has been back 20 times, to present the scholarships every June and to attend each anniversary.
"Since nobody would take any money from us there, we wanted to do something so that those people there would never forget what they had done for us," she explained. "They just put their lives on hold to take care of the plane people."
Even a decade later, that huge, comforting hug of Gander, Newfoundland still warms the memories of the 6,600 passengers who descended without warning on the town of 10,000. Many of them have made deep friendships with the islanders who cared for them, and some kept going back to that town.
The Day the World Came to Town is a positively heartwarming account of the citizens of Gander and its surrounding communities and the unexpected guests who were welcomed with exemplary kindness. This book abounds with human stories, such as: the fire engine racing to the next town with sirens blaring, to bring back toys for the "plane children"; the American family returning from Kazakhstan with a newly-adopted daughter; ... and many, many more.
I think it’s important to remember such responses to a humanitarian crisis, to keep our faith in humanity.
