Monday marks 37 years since 248 Fort Campbell soldiers and eight crew members were killed in a plane crash in Gander, Newfoundland as they were on their way home from a peacekeeping mission in the Sinai Peninsula and there will be ceremonies on post and in Hopkinsville to remember the victims.
Fort Campbell’s service at 9:30 a.m. will be at the Task Force 3-502nd Memorial Park, next to the Don F. Pratt Museum. All of the soldiers had been assigned or attached to 3rd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team “STRIKE”, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). They were returning home from a six-month deployment to the Sinai Peninsula on a peacekeeping mission to monitor the demilitarized zone between Egypt and Israel.
Meanwhile, the Christian County Chamber of Commerce Military Affairs Committee will host its annual service at 12:12 p.m. at the Gander Memorial Park on Fort Campbell Boulevard. It will feature speakers and the traditional wreath-laying.
Residents of Gander will also remember the fallen with their own service at the Silent Witness Memorial near the crash site.