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The Day The World Came To Town
Jim DeFede
9/11 In Gander, Newfoundland
Harper
September 2003
On Sale: September 1, 2003
256 pages
ISBN: 0060559713
EAN: 9780060559717
Kindle: B004T4UNU0
Paperback / e-Book
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Non-Fiction
"For the better part of a week, nearly every man, woman, and
child in Gander and the surrounding smaller towns stopped
what they were doing so they could help. They placed their
lives on hold for a group of strangers and asked for nothing
in return. They affirmed the basic goodness of man at a time
when it was easy to doubt such humanity still
existed." When thirty-eight jetliners bound for the
United States were forced to land in Gander, Newfoundland,
on September 11, 2001, due to the closing of United States
airspace, the citizens of this small community were called
upon to come to the aid of more than six thousand displaced
travelers. Roxanne and Clarke Loper were excited to be
on their way home from a lengthy and exhausting trip to
Kazakhstan, where they had adopted a daughter, when their
plane suddenly changed course and they found themselves in
Newfoundland. Hannah and Dennis O'Rourke, who had been on
vacation in Ireland, were forced to receive updates by
telephone on the search for their son Kevin, who was among
the firefighters missing at the World Trade Center. George
Vitale, a New York state trooper and head of the governor's
security detail in New York City who was returning from a
trip to Dublin, struggled to locate his sister Patty, who
worked in the Twin Towers. A family of Russian immigrants,
on their way to the Seattle area to begin a new life, dealt
with the uncertainty of conditions in their future
home. The people of Gander were asked to aid and care
for these distraught travelers, as well as for thousands
more, and their response was truly extraordinary. Oz Fudge,
the town constable, searched all over Gander for a
flight-crew member so that he could give her a hug as a
favor to her sister, a fellow law enforcement officer who
managed to reach him by phone. Eithne Smith, an
elementary-school teacher, helped the passengers staying at
her school put together letters to family members all over
the world, which she then faxed. Bonnie Harris, Vi Tucker,
and Linda Humby, members of a local animal protection
agency, crawled into the jets' cargo holds to feed and care
for all of the animals on the flights. Hundreds of people
put their names on a list to take passengers into their
homes and give them a chance to get cleaned up and
relax. The Day the World Came to Town is a
positively heartwarming account of the citizens of Gander
and its surrounding communities and the unexpected guests
who were welcomed with exemplary kindness.
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