HOPKINSVILLE, KY (CHRISTIAN COUNTY NOW) – Families and community members gathered at the Gander memorial on Fort Campbell Thursday morning to honor lives that were lost 39 years ago. Soldiers from the 2nd Mobile Brigade Combat Team marched onto the field alongside 256 maple trees, each representing a life lost on Dec. 12, 1985. The trees on the site act as a living memorial that continue to grow and bloom every year.

Col. James Stultz, commander, 2nd Mobile Brigade Combat Team, took to the podium to address the crowd saying that the tragedy that occurred all those years ago continues to extend into today. “We memorialize this tragedy by gathering here every year to inculcate a new generation of soldier to what happened on that dark day in our nation’s history,” said Stultz. “The second tragedy that has continued for 39 years is the pain and grief that some of you here today live with like a constant companion”

39th Anniversary Gander Memorial Ceremony at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Dec. 12, 2024 (Daynnah Carmona)
39th Anniversary Gander Memorial Ceremony at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Dec. 12, 2024 (Daynnah Carmona)
39th Anniversary Gander Memorial Ceremony at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Dec. 12, 2024 (Daynnah Carmona)
39th Anniversary Gander Memorial Ceremony at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Dec. 12, 2024 (Daynnah Carmona)
39th Anniversary Gander Memorial Ceremony at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Dec. 12, 2024 (Daynnah Carmona)
39th Anniversary Gander Memorial Ceremony at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Dec. 12, 2024 (Daynnah Carmona)
39th Anniversary Gander Memorial Ceremony at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Dec. 12, 2024 (Daynnah Carmona)
39th Anniversary Gander Memorial Ceremony at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Dec. 12, 2024 (Daynnah Carmona)
39th Anniversary Gander Memorial Ceremony at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Dec. 12, 2024 (Daynnah Carmona)
39th Anniversary Gander Memorial Ceremony at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Dec. 12, 2024 (Daynnah Carmona)
39th Anniversary Gander Memorial Ceremony at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Dec. 12, 2024 (Daynnah Carmona)
39th Anniversary Gander Memorial Ceremony at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Dec. 12, 2024 (Daynnah Carmona)
39th Anniversary Gander Memorial Ceremony at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Dec. 12, 2024 (Daynnah Carmona)
39th Anniversary Gander Memorial Ceremony at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Dec. 12, 2024 (Daynnah Carmona)
39th Anniversary Gander Memorial Ceremony at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Dec. 12, 2024 (Daynnah Carmona)
39th Anniversary Gander Memorial Ceremony at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Dec. 12, 2024 (Daynnah Carmona)
39th Anniversary Gander Memorial Ceremony at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Dec. 12, 2024 (Daynnah Carmona)
39th Anniversary Gander Memorial Ceremony at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Dec. 12, 2024 (Daynnah Carmona)
39th Anniversary Gander Memorial Ceremony at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Dec. 12, 2024 (Daynnah Carmona)
39th Anniversary Gander Memorial Ceremony at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Dec. 12, 2024 (Daynnah Carmona)

The ceremony is an annual solemn event held at the memorial site on Fort Campbell. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of those who perished when their flight crashed in Gander, Newfoundland, Canada. The servicemembers were returning from a six-month deployment in Sinai Egypt. 248 Soldiers and eight crew members tragically lost their lives in the crash of Arrow Air Flight 1285. The event is considered one of the deadliest peacetime military air disasters in history.

A wreath was laid on the memorial site, there was a ceremonial firing, and the playing of taps. After the ceremony, families and visitors walked the site, engaging with soldiers representing the fallen.