The Day the World Came to Town by Jim DeFede

“Newfoundlanders are an interesting breed of people,” he said. So often, DeFede said, there’s an expectation that “someone else” - like the Red Cross or the Salvation Army - will take care of people when tragedies arise. He immediately found himself drawn to the idea of people coming together to help those they didn’t even know. When that deal fell through, his publisher told him he should check out the story of Gander. The book was recently re-released for the 20th commemoration of 9/11.Īn investigative journalist with Miami’s CBS4 News, DeFede had originally been hired to work on a completely different book regarding the tragedy of 9/11. For the next four days, the town of 10,000 opened up its arms - and its homes - to 7,000 stranded passengers.ĭeFede wrote about those four days in his 2002 book, The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland. In those initial hours - as the country reeled in horror - 38 jetliners originally headed for the United States were rerouted to the airport in Gander, Newfoundland, in eastern Canada. I think I spent the next two or three days just sitting in front of the television with my mouth agape, not really knowing or comprehending what had occurred.” I turned on the TV and as I’m watching, I saw the second plane hit the second tower. “My sister had called me and said that a plane had crashed into one of the towers. “I was in Miami,” said DeFede, who attended CSU from 1981-1986 and majored in political science.

A middle school provided showers, as well as access to computers, email, and televisions, allowing the passengers to stay in touch with family and follow the news.Like most Americans, Colorado State University alumnus Jim DeFede remembers everything about Sept. Linens and toiletries were bought and donated. Local bus drivers who had been on strike came off the picket lines to transport the passengers to the various shelters set up in local schools and churches. As the passengers stepped from the airplanes, exhausted, hungry and distraught after being held on board for nearly 24 hours while security checked all of the baggage, they were greeted with a feast prepared by the townspeople.

The citizens of Gander met the stranded passengers with an overwhelming display of friendship and goodwill. airspace on September 11, the population of this small town on Newfoundland Island swelled from 10,300 to nearly 17,000. When 38 jetliners bound for the United States were forced to land at Gander International Airport in Canada by the closing of U.S. Perfect for fans of the musical Come From Away!

The Day the World Came to Town by Jim DeFede