Community hosts ceremony remembering the Gander plane crash victims at renovated memorial

On December 12, 1985, a plane carrying soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division crashed in Gander, Newfoundland, and on Friday, the families of the fallen gathered at the newly renovated Gander Memorial in Hopkinsville to remember those who were lost that day.

The flight departed from Cairo, Egypt, and was bound for Fort Campbell, with 248 soldiers and eight flight crew members on board. Over the past year, the local memorial, located near the Pennyrile Parkway on-ramp along Fort Campbell Boulevard, was renovated by Clarksville-based construction company Wicked Kolors and Hopkinsville nonprofit Dad’s House Inc.

The memorial now includes an eternal flame, cloaked in a sculpted veil that has a star for each of the fallen. Then the plaques with the soldiers’ names were raised higher off the ground to make them more readable.

To start the ceremony, Fort Campbell’s 101st Brass Quintet played the National Anthem, and Christian County Military Affairs Director Shannon Lane welcomed the attendees. Although 40 years have passed since the tragic plane crash, Lane says it’s still important for them to come together to remember those who lost their lives and to renew their devotion to supporting the families that were impacted.

Forty years ago, Stacey Gallo says her life was changed forever. Her father, Captain Michael Eastman, was one of the soldiers who died in the plane crash. Gallo says she wonders how hope remained in her heart in the months and years following the crash. She calls the ceremony a time to not only remember the tragedy, but to also remember the lives their loved ones led. She was 12 years old when the crash happened.

Colonel Duke Reim, commander of the Second Brigade, says the pain of the tragedy still lingers today for the families of the fallen. He says the tragedy reminds service members today to uphold the values of service, sacrifice and commitment to a cause greater than one’s self.

Isaiah Pride, the CEO of Wicked Kolors and leader of Dad’s House Inc., was excited to see ceremony hosted at the completed memorial, and says he was amazed to see the amount of support the renovation garnered, 40 years after the tragedy.

To conclude the ceremony, the names of the fallen were read, wreaths were laid and the eternal flame was lit.