PM, U.S. envoy to mark Sept. 11 in Gander

National Post ^ | Saturday, August 24, 2002 | Jon Bricker

[badfreeper]

The federal government has selected Gander, Nfld., as the site for a national remembrance ceremony to mark the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Jean Chrétien will lead the remembrance service in Gander, the Atlantic outpost where dozens of international flights made emergency landings on the day air traffic was grounded because of terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C.

Plans for the ceremony were to be kept secret until next week. But an event co-ordinator confirmed yesterday it will go ahead and that the Prime Minister, as well as Paul Cellucci, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, will be there.

"The national focus will be on Gander," Dan McNeil, a director in the Privy Council Office, said yesterday from Ottawa.

Mr. Chrétien and Mr. Cellucci are expected to speak at the ceremony.

The ceremony, at Gander's airport, will be televised nationally on the CBC.

"The event in Gander is meant to commemorate not just Gander, but what happened across the country," Mr. McNeil said.

More than 100 international flights made unplanned landings at Canadian airports on the morning of Sept. 11, when air traffic authorities shut down the airways over North America following the attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center.

Thirty-eight of the flights were diverted to Gander, stranding more than 6,700 passengers and crew in the town of 10,000 for several days.

Ganderites and residents of about a half-dozen neighbouring communities responded, billeting the stranded passengers in their homes, feeding them, giving them showers, meals clean clothes and opening up their school gyms, where emergency staff worked around the clock for several days to help the unexpected travellers.

Jim DeFede, an American who has written a book about Gander's role in the events of Sept. 11, praised the Prime Minister and Mr. Cellucci for their decisions to begin the day there.

"I planned on being in Gander anyway. I think it's wonderful news that now the Prime Minister is going to be there. too," said Mr. DeFede, whose book, The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland, is to be released soon.

The author, who spent several weeks in Gander recently, said he was particularly glad to learn Mr. Cellucci would be attending the ceremony, since it sends a message that Americans appreciate the help they received last Sept. 11 from their Canadian neighbours.

Many Canadians were angry that George W. Bush, the U.S. President, in a state-of-the-union address, thanked several countries for their support but omitted Canada.

"Unfortunately, I think the people of the United States don't always appreciate what a friend they had in Canada, and what a great friend they had in Gander that day," Mr. DeFede said.

Claude Elliott, Gander's Mayor, also said he was looking forward to the ceremony, the latest in a long list of tributes to the Newfoundland town's residents.

Gander has been praised on a Web site created by some of those stranded last year. Several airlines whose planes were diverted to Gander established a scholarship fund for the town's children. The German airline Lufthansa named a new passenger jet after Gander earlier this year.

But Mr. Elliott said tributes were not what Ganderites were after when they pitched in last Sept. 11.

"There were 6,000 people here that needed help, so we helped them," he said. "We did what we had to do. I guess the rest of the world thinks it's a great thing."

The ceremony will mark the first time Mr. Chrétien and Mr. Cellucci have visited Gander since last Sept. 11.

Neither man's office would reveal their anniversary day itineraries, but sources said they expect the pair to travel together, possibly to New York City, where several memorial events are planned. Both are also expected at an event in Ottawa later in the day.

© Copyright 2002 National Post

[badfreeper]

"In Gander, the hospitality of perfect strangers"

[maica]

Thanks for posting this. The activity of the people of Gander was such a reassuring symbol of the goodness that can be found in people during those days when we were all devastated with shock and grief.

Reading the stories of the residents, the passengers and the flight crews was very soothing and healing, helping us to focus on positive actions and qualities of character, rather than the inhumanity of the attackers.

[billorites]

"Mr. Chrétien and Mr. Cellucci are expected to speak at the ceremony."

I knew there had to be a down side.

[bok]

Paul Cellucci should be replaced and another ambassador appointed to Canada.

[Mfkmmof4]

"Unfortunately, I think the people of the United States don't always appreciate what a friend they had in Canada, and what a great friend they had in Gander that day,"

As the relative of 4 brothers, 3 nephews, 1 niece, and a sister-in-law who were part of the group that Gander took care of I can say that I appreciate every thing Gander did. Without a doubt I learned what a great friend we had!! The townspeople could not have been more charitable. For my family it was an awesome experience.

[Black Powder]

The Gander Connection

But please don't forget that many cities across Canada also took care of stranded passengers on 9-11.

[badfreeper]

Of course I'll never forget. I remember the media in Toronto actually had to urge people to STOP calling the mayor's office to volunteer their extra beds becuase they had 30,000 already volunteered and needed to free up the phones for the calls from people in need of shelter. That was repeated across the country, but Gander was something very special.

30,000 rooms with more being offered in a region of over 4 million is fanatastic, but to field 9,000 volunteers in a town of 10,000 is beyond belief. Of the remaining 1000 some must have worked in the service sector, so even though they were helping they weren't counted as volunteers. I wouldn't be suprised if once you've removed small children, the very elderly, the handicapped, and the people who were working, 99% of Gander's population pitched in. That's phenomenal.