Newfoundlanders to gather to commemorate 15th anniversary of 9/11

GANDER, N.L. — Fifteen years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a Newfoundland town that hosted nearly 7,000 plane passengers will pause to reflect on the tragedy and their unexpected connection to it.

The Town of Gander is hosting several events commemorating the 15th anniversary of 9/11, with thousands expected to attend an ecumenical service, including U.S Consul General Steven Giegerich and the province’s Premier Dwight Ball.

“There’s been a very, very strong bond formed between the region and the ‘plane people’,” said Debby Yannakidis, chairwoman of the Gander and Area Chamber of Commerce.

“The town, and the region, will always pay our respects to 9/11.”

Thousands of passengers were stranded for three days in Gander when all flights were grounded, and the people of Gander provided food, lodging and other assistance.

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In a statement Friday, U.S. Ambassador to Canada Bruce Heyman said the people of Newfoundland and Labrador and Canadians in general “demonstrated profound and heartfelt kindness” in the aftermath of 9/11.

“The unbreakable bond between the United States and Canada was never more evident than on that day 15 years ago and in the days that followed,” Heyman said.

“I reflect often on the generosity Canadians extended to the thousands of passengers from the United States and elsewhere whose U.S.-bound flights were diverted to Canada immediately after the attacks.”

Yannakidis said Sunday’s ceremony, organized with the Canadian National Day of Service Foundation and Wounded Warriors Canada, will commemorate the tragedy but also raise awareness about PTSD.

“Obviously on the date itself, there was a lot of people as first responders… who have experienced PTSD because of traumatic events,” said Yannakidis.

Robert Pilon, who has portrayed the title character in the Phantom of the Opera in Toronto, will sing at the service alongside local choirs.

A piece of steel beam from the south tower of the World Trade Center is also en route to the airport in Gander, a thank you gift from a foundation named for a New York firefighter killed while helping to rescue people from the towers.

An inscription on the pedestal reads: “This piece of World Trade Center steel was presented to Gander International Airport by the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation on Sept. 11, 2016 in gratitude for the profound humanitarian role the airport and people of Gander played in the wake of the attacks on 9/11.”

It’s being towed by a truck donated by GMC, and escorted by current and former firefighters on motorcycles. A ceremony with the one metre by one metre beam will be held after the ecumenical service at the Gander Airport.

The events in Gander inspired a musical — Come From Away — which is headed for Broadway next year.

Written by Canadians Irene Sankoff and David Hein, the production tells the heartfelt stories of the local residents who opened their homes to the thousands of passengers left stranded after the attacks.

Sankoff and Hein travelled to Gander on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and collected thousands of hours of interviews, now memorialized in the 100-minute production.

The musical, now playing in Washington D.C., is headed to Gander for two benefits concerts on Oct. 29.

— By Aly Thomson in Halifax.

The Canadian Press