SGT GARY W. PADGETT
101st Military Police Company

Killed on December 12, 1985
From Vista, California



On Thursday, December 12, 1985, the chartered DC-8 plane carrying 248 members of the 101st Airborne Division of Fort Campbell, Kentucky and 8 crew members returning home for Christmas from peace keeping duties in the Middle East, crashed during takeoff in Gander, Newfoundland. The following Monday, December 16, 1985, President and Mrs. Reagan visited Fort Campbell for a memorial service honoring those soldiers.



FROM "GANDER - THE UNTOLD STORY"
(http://www.sandford.org/gandercrash/main/index.shtml)

This memorial was built in honor of the members of the 101st Airborne Division who died in the Gander crash. The children are each holding olive branches, representing the peacekeeping mission in the Sinai that the 101st Airborne Division was returning from when the crash occurred.


© Fred Earle

© Lloyd's
Photography




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