Fort Campbell, KY. (CLARKSVILLENOW) Fort Campbell held its 34th Annual Gander Memorial Ceremony Thursday at the new site of the recently relocated memorial. The new memorial site, next to the Don F. Pratt Museum, features two monuments as well as 256 Canadian Sugar Maple trees.
The memorial honors the memory of the 248 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) soldiers and eight crew members who lost their lives when an Arrow Air flight crashed in Gander Newfoundland shortly after takeoff on December 12, 1985.
The soldiers, primarily assigned to 3rd Battalion, 502 Infantry Regiment, were returning from a six-month peacekeeping mission in the Sinai Peninsula.
The original memorial was conceived by Mrs. Janice Johnston Nikkel, who was a 15-year-old Canadian citizen at the time of the incident. She pledged money she had earned from babysitting to the creation of the tree park, inspiring other businesses and organizations to contribute.
The original Gander Memorial with 256 trees was dedicated in September 1986. Nikkel was on hand for the original dedication of the tree park and returned to Fort Campbell Thursday for the dedication of the new memorial.
Nikkel talked about the importance of the memorial continuing to honor those who lost their lives. “It’s a privilege to see this living memorial has carried on for future generations to have a place to come and remember their loved ones who were lost,” Nikkel said.
The original memorial was relocated earlier this year after the root systems of the trees began growing together, which raised concerns about the future of the memorial. Eight of the original trees were transplanted and the remaining trees were removed.
During the ceremony, 256 soldiers from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 101st took their place next to the trees, representing the living Gander Memorial and continuation of the vision to keep the memory of the fallen alive.
The Commander of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, “Strike,” Colonel Michael Kovacevic, talked about the soldiers standing beside the trees.
“That is why we are here today, to remember those that came before us and draw strength from the families, veterans and collective Strike, and Screaming Eagle team, that will never allow their memory to fade,” Kovacevic said.
For the ceremony each tree had the name of a fallen soldier or crew member the tree represented, and the Star-Spangled Banner was sung by Mrs. Amy Gallo, a Gander widow and honorary member of the 502 Infantry Regiment.