Members of the community, soldiers from Fort Campbell and the family members who lost their loved ones in the Arrow Air Flight crash in Gander, Newfoundland on December 12, 1985 recognized the 38 years since the tragedy with a ceremony honoring those killed in the crash.
The flight was transporting soldiers from Cairo, Egypt to Fort Campbell when it crashed in Gander, Newfoundland resulting in the deaths of 248 soldiers and eight flight crew members. On Tuesday the lives of those lost were remembered at the Gander Memorial in Hopkinsville.
Guest speaker, Colonel James Stultz the Commander of 2nd Brigade Combat Team says coming together and recognizing tragedies like the Gander crash is important because there are people who are still living with the absence of their loved one who taken from them in the crash.
Naomi Hemingway is one of those people, her husband Sergeant First Class Paul Hemingway was one the lives claimed by the crash. Hemingway says her and her husband were high school sweethearts, and described the ceremony as a sad, but blessed day. The day looms as a reminder of the tragedy, but Hemingway says the day stopped being as sad for her when her granddaughter was born on December 12 eight years ago.
However, through the tragedy Hemingway says her “Gander Family” has helped her cope with the loss of her husband. The Gander Family is a group of people that have also lost loved ones in the tragedy. Hemingway says members of her Gander Family often talk, are there for one another and keep the memories of those lost alive.
Along with Hemingway, Stephanie White lost her husband Staff Sergeant Emery White III in the crash. White says her son was only three-year-old when her husband died and whenever the date of the tragedy draws near, she describes it as the worst time of the year.
However, White says they need memorials like the one in Hopkinsville so people don’t forget about the tragedy that occurred.
Despite the memorial standing as a reminder of the tragedy, White says it is also a moment for her and others affected by the tragedy to remember to continue living their lives and not to remain stuck in the day they lost their loved ones.
Along with the ceremony held in Hopkinsville, ceremonies were also hosted in Fort Campbell and in Gander, Newfoundland to remember those who died in the crash.
