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The population of Gander —10,400 at the time — turned out en masse to care for 10,500 stranded travelers.

The Generosity Of Gander



On September 11, 2001, Delta Flight 15 received a terse directive: “All airways over the Continental United States are closed to commercial air traffic. Land ASAP at the nearest airport. Advise your destination.” Far out over the Atlantic on a flight from Germany to America, the captain adjusted his heading to land at Gander, Newfoundland.
Those aboard noticed that the airport was cluttered with commercial aircraft, and knew something was terribly wrong. Once on the ground, the captain told them that terrorists had hijacked three domestic flights. They were horrified when he described events involving the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Canadian authorities instructed everyone to stay aboard until further notice, so the passengers settled in for a long, uncomfortable night. The next morning a convoy of school buses arrived, and passengers from 52 commercial planes boarded them. It was at this point that human generosity began to overflow. The population of Gander —10,400 at the time — turned out en masse to care for 10,500 stranded travelers. Gander and several surrounding communities had converted all high schools, meeting halls, and other gathering places to lodging for the stranded travelers. Schools were closed, and students volunteered to do all they could to care for those whom they referred to as the “plane people.” They even arranged boat tours, hiking trips, and other outings, trying to do all possible to keep their guests from worrying about what was going on in the United States. Delta Flight 15’s 218 passengers were put up in the small town of Lewisporte. Later, many reported that they had never experienced such care and attention. The residents delivered food, took them to restaurants, and arranged for laundry services. One woman, well into her pregnancy, was lodged directly across the street from a medical facility.

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Finally, the passengers re-boarded Delta Flight 15 to resume their journey. Before departure, a medical doctor from Virginia persuaded the captain to allow him to make an announcement over the public address system. He asked for donations from his fellow travelers to set up a college fund for the Lewisporte youth who had done all they possibly could to care for those so far from home and in so much distress. He promised to match whatever amount was taken in. When the passenger’s donations were tallied, the amount was $14,000, or an average of a little over $60 each. To date, the fund has soared dramatically, and has assisted several hundred Lewisporte high school students desiring to earn college educations. Man’s inhumanity to man manifested itself in a most tragic way on 9/11, and is doing so now. In the Mideast, thousands of innocent people, children among them, are being slaughtered because of their Christian faith, and are dying due to lack of food and water. In the face of such evil, good prevails when good people unite and do what must be done. For those aboard Delta Flight 15, good people united. Those passengers will never forget the generosity of Gander.


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Jimmy Reed -- Bio and Archives

Jimmy Reed is an Oxford, Mississippi resident, Ole Miss and Delta State University alumnus, Vietnam Era Army Veteran, former Mississippi Delta cotton farmer and ginner, author, and retired college teacher.

This story is a selection from Jimmy Reed’s latest book, entitled The Jaybird Tales.

Copies, including personalized autographs, can be reserved by notifying the author via email (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)).


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