The Day The World Came To Town
9/11 In Gander, Newfoundland
It's been 5 years since the fall of the Twin Towers on 9/11/01. Since then, there have been many forms of media, from books to movies, that have analyzed the story from various angles and perspectives. Most of them deal with the lead up and the event itself and remind us of the darker side of humanity. However, there a few books that reaffirm the inherent goodness and generosity of mankind, and one of them is "The Day The World Came To Town - 9/11 In Gander, Newfoundland", by Jim DeFede.
Canada accepted over 200 inbound flights originally destined for the USA because the country closed it's airspace down. One small town in Newfoundland played a very vital role in that. Gander, a town of ten thousand people, is home to a very large airport due to it's past role of being a major fuel stop for trans-atlantic flights. It doesn't see as much air traffic as it used to because of bigger and better planes. However, on that fateful day, 38 passenger planes landed with over six thousand people.
The book, published a year after after the attack, covers various stories from the generosity of the townsfolk from the smallest gesture such as letting "the plane people" into their homes for a shower up to the big corporate chain that gave away their goods at no expense.
I highly recommend this book. It will uplift you give you hope that there is a level of humanity still around in this sometimes cynical world of ours that we should all strive towards.
The Day The World Came To Town - 9/11 In Gander, Newfoundland
9/11 In Gander, Newfoundland
It's been 5 years since the fall of the Twin Towers on 9/11/01. Since then, there have been many forms of media, from books to movies, that have analyzed the story from various angles and perspectives. Most of them deal with the lead up and the event itself and remind us of the darker side of humanity. However, there a few books that reaffirm the inherent goodness and generosity of mankind, and one of them is "The Day The World Came To Town - 9/11 In Gander, Newfoundland", by Jim DeFede.
Canada accepted over 200 inbound flights originally destined for the USA because the country closed it's airspace down. One small town in Newfoundland played a very vital role in that. Gander, a town of ten thousand people, is home to a very large airport due to it's past role of being a major fuel stop for trans-atlantic flights. It doesn't see as much air traffic as it used to because of bigger and better planes. However, on that fateful day, 38 passenger planes landed with over six thousand people.
The book, published a year after after the attack, covers various stories from the generosity of the townsfolk from the smallest gesture such as letting "the plane people" into their homes for a shower up to the big corporate chain that gave away their goods at no expense.
I highly recommend this book. It will uplift you give you hope that there is a level of humanity still around in this sometimes cynical world of ours that we should all strive towards.
The Day The World Came To Town - 9/11 In Gander, Newfoundland
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Comment A girl I knew online died that day. As terrible as everything was that day, it did show the best of what we could be. From the generosity of Canadians opening their doors for the stranded passengers to the firefighters running into the burning towers, what made our species great was how we responded to the tragedy. Discovery, A&E, and CBC have been airing a lot of documentaries in the past week. The one that was in the same vein was that of a handful people in the towers and their attempts to escape. Several people stopped to help others get out -- some of those people made it out and others didn't. One person who made it out was asked "Why did you stop for her? You could have made it out and nobody would have known?" The person simply replied: "I would have known." |
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