Touring Gander

Today we woke up to sunny skies—Yippee, no rain!! We were quite happy to see the nice weather. Locals tell us this is the 2nd sunny day they have had since the beginning of July, so we feel quite fortunate. We toured around town a bit.

Our first stop was the Silent Witness Memorial. This park is dedicated to those individuals who lost their lives in the 1985 Arrow Air Crash at that site. The 256 victims were members of the 101st Airborne Division of the US Army. The Memorial is a statue of an American soldier holding the hands of two civilian children. The children, a boy and a girl, each hold an olive branch, indicative of the peacekeeping mission of the 101st Airborne on the Sinai Peninsula.




Also at the site is the Cross of Sacrifice. Paid for by donations from site visitors, it is inscribed with the Airborne motto “Rendezvous with Destiny”. The cross is crafted from the remains of the emergency door of the ill-fated DC8. 256 native trees were planted around the cross-a tribute to each of the crash victims.



Our next stop was the North Atlantic Aviation Museum. Since aviation plays such a huge role in the past of Gander, the museum is very important to the town. They have a number of aircraft on display as well as details from their aviation history. One of the large exhibits depicts Gander’s role and response after 9/11. All of the letters of gratitude sent to the town as well as many photos depicting their response are on display.



For dinner our campground hosts cooked us a steak dinner. It was delicious. After dinner the host told us a bit about the town and how people live in this part of Newfoundland. He gave us some more details about 9/11 and how Gander dealt with it. He was actually an air traffic controller on duty at the time so his perspective was quite interesting. We finished the evening with a visit from the town mascot-Commander Gander- who gave us all town pins. These Newfoundlanders are very friendly.