Out of the tragedy of the 9/11 attacks in America 25 years ago, a ray of hope emerged on the Canadian side of the border.
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ray → emerge → border
The town of Gander, N.L., and surrounding areas took on nearly 7,000 stranded travellers whose planes were diverted after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
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planes → surround → Sept.
The crisis forged a lifelong bond between some passengers and the locals.
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crisis → forge → passengers
Today, that connection is so strong that many of the people, known affectionately as the “come from aways,” have returned to Gander to mark the 25th anniversary.
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connection → know → anniversary
A special service is planned for Friday and will include Governor General Louise Arbour and U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra.
“Sometimes it feels like yesterday, because there’s so many memories,” said Derm Flynn, the former mayor of Appleton, N.L.
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Flynn → plan → Appleton
The small community, located near Gander, scrambled to house the stranded passengers who found their flights abruptly diverted in 2001.
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flights → locate → 2001
“They were desperately needing help, and needing friendship, and needing comfort,” he said.
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he → need → comfort
Space was scarce, and Flynn recalls people sleeping in the council chambers at the town hall, in schools, churches and private homes.
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Flynn → recall → schools
He and his wife, Dianne, opened the doors to their home, as so many others did, and took in six people.
“I didn’t know he had invited three people to the house, and he didn’t know that I had invited three people to the house,” she recalled.
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she → open → house
‘We had landed in a very unique place’
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We → land → place
For those stranded passengers and crew, however, the experience began long before they ever stepped off their planes.
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they → strand → planes
Beverley Bass, a retired American Airlines captain, was at the helm of American Airlines Flight 777, one of the 38 planes that landed in Gander that day.
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that → land → Gander
She recalls being “very surprised” to hear the diverted flight would be landing in Newfoundland.
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flight → recall → Newfoundland
“We learned, when we were right over the middle of the North Atlantic, that all of the U.S. airspace was closed.
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all → learn → airspace
So we knew we would divert somewhere in Canada.
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we → know → Canada
But the logical cities for us, with a big airplane like that, would be Toronto or Montreal,” she said.
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she → say → that
She notes that while pilots who fly to Europe will know of Gander because its airport is considered an emergency diversion airport, most pilots will retire without ever landing there.
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pilots → note → Gander
In the air, she says she and fellow crew members weren’t aware initially of how significant the Twin Towers attacks were.
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attacks → say → air
When she heard about the airspace closure, she realized the magnitude of the situation.
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she → hear → situation
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“I think as pilots, we are trained to remain calm, take care of our passengers and crew, and basically just get the airplane on the ground safely.
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we → get → ground
So I don’t think I ever thought about being scared.
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I → think → ?
And in that moment, I didn’t even think about possibly having (a) nefarious person in the back of the airplane,” she said, adding she wasn’t aware hijackers had been involved in the attacks.
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hijackers → think → attacks
“I don’t know they’ve been flown into buildings …
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they → know → buildings
I don’t any of these details.
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I → do → details
So all I knew is I was told to land in Gander and I started preparing for that.”
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I → know → that
Once the liner landed, she says Canadian officials boarded and told them they wouldn’t be able to disembark until the next morning.
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they → land → morning
By the time they walked off the plane at 7:30 a.m. on Sept. 12, they were met with “tables of food” that had been prepared overnight.
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that → walk → food
“Every stove in Gander must have been on because they prepared enough food for 7,000 passengers and crew.
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they → prepare → passengers
That was my first realization that we had landed in a very unique place.
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we → land → place
And from there, the stories continue,” she said.
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she → continue → ?
Bass eventually found her way to the Comfort Inn in town, which was scrambling to find room for all the additional guests flowing into the community.
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which → find → community
Karen Mills was the general manager of the inn at the time, and recalls that people were lining up out the door trying to find space, while the inn’s phone lines were ringing off the hook.
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lines → recall → hook
“We had these two gentlemen come in from England, and once again I was on the desk and they’re looking for a room, and I was at that point, a broken record.
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I → come → point
‘No, I have nothing, no we’re sold out, we’re sold out.'”
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we → have → nothing
she said.
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she → say → ?
She says she told them she was sorry but she had no room.
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she → say → room
Until she remembered she had a box spring mattress and a cot in the basement, which she could place in the gym.
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she → remember → gym
“I’ll never forget it, as long as I live.
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I → forget → it
They looked at each other, and they
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They → look → other
So I figured, ‘OK, we got a winner,'” she said.
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she → figure → winner
…and 39 more, not listed.
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