What delightful people the Newfoundlanders are.
I was embedded with troops on a military flight in 2006 going from Ft. Bliss, TX to Kuwait, where we’d eventually board C-130s to Baghdad.
The plane made a refueling stop at Gander and we were allowed to get off the plane for about 90 minutes to stretch our legs, get snacks, “smoke ‘em if you got ‘em,” etc. As we came off of the plane, there was a line of local citizens to greet us, shaking hands and thanking us for going into harm’s way. (Even us civilians!)
It was a heartwarming experience and we were told by airport staffers that local people came to the airport every time a military flight headed to the Middle East was coming through. What a lovely and heartwarming experience that was.
God bless Gander.
We had a similar thing happen to us in the UK in ‘68. We anchored out in the Thames estuary at South End on Sea and when we were the first US ships there since WWII. You couldn’t buy a meal or a drink in town. People bringing us in their houses for dinner etc. It was pretty dang cool.