The 101 Airborne Division is marking a somber anniversary. (Daniel Woolfolk/Staff)

This year’s ceremony honoring the memory of the greatest loss of life event to hit the 101st Airborne Division will be the last at the site of the current monument to the 248 soldiers and eight crew members killed on Dec. 12, 1985.

On that fateful day, the soldiers boarded a plane in Gander, Newfoundland, on their way home after a six-month peacekeeping mission on the Sinai Peninsula.

Christmas was a few weeks away. A number of single soldiers, most assigned to 3rd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, had given up their seats on the first flight to married men so they could get home early.

Families were waiting.

But shortly after takeoff, the plane stalled and then crashed less than a mile from the runway, killing all on board. A crash investigation later determined that it was an accident, likely due to ice on the wings of the plane.

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In the year following the crash, in the midst of mourning, the 101st Airborne Division built the stone memorial and planted 256 sugar maple trees donated by Canadian citizens, one for each person lost in the crash.

But over time, the trees have grown too close together, prompting concerns for the long-term health of the trees.

So, next year, some of the trees and the monument will be moved to the Brig. Gen. Don F. Pratt Memorial Museum, also on Fort Campbell, Kentucky, according to a division release.

New trees will be planted as well.

“We will always honor the memory of our Gander fallen,” said Col. Joseph Escandon, commander of 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division. “Maintaining this annual tradition at a living memorial is essential to ensuring that the memory of those lost will never be forgotten. The Gander tragedy affected not only the Fort Campbell community but countless others across the United States and Canada.”

Archived photo of the 101st Airborne Division memorial service for the 248 soldiers killed in an airplane crash in Gander, Newfoundland on Dec. 12, 1985 while returning home from a peacekeeping mission in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt. (Army archives)

There is another memorial at Gander Lake, Newfoundland, overlooking the crash site. It is a statute of a beret-wearing soldier in uniform holding the hands of two children.

On the peacekeeping mission, soldiers were authorized to wear an orange beret as part of the Multinational Force and Observers peacekeeping mission in Sinai.

The mission in the Sinai continues, but since 9/11, the U.S. contribution has often been a unit from the Army National Guard.

(Right to Left) Master Sgt. Paul Huston, Command Sgt. Maj. Alexis Shelton, Col. Clark Lindner and 2nd Lt. Jonathan Bobb, all serving with Task Force Sinai and the Multinational Force and Observers salute the American Flag during the playing of the National Anthem Dec. 12, 2014, as part of the MFO's 2014 Gander Memorial Ceremony held on North Camp's Memorial Square located in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. The ceremony is held annually to honor the 248 fallen Soldiers and eight crew members of the fatal plane crash in Gander, Newfoundland, Canada, on Dec. 12, 1985. The crash took the lives of 248 Soldiers serving with the 3rd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division 'Air Assault' who were returning home to Fort Campbell, Ky., after completing a six-month deployment to Egypt in support of the MFO's peacekeeping mission. (U.S. Army Photo By: Sgt. Thomas Duval, Task Force Sinai Public Affairs)

The ceremony will continue next year at the new location.

“Every year on Dec. 12, we take a moment to remember those who lost their lives in service of their nation,” Escandon said in the release. “While we are saddened by the need for the relocation of the original memorial, one thing will not change: our commitment to honoring their sacrifice and the sacrifices of their families, friends and fellow Soldiers.”

Todd South has written about crime, courts, government and the military for multiple publications since 2004 and was named a 2014 Pulitzer finalist for a co-written project on witness intimidation. Todd is a Marine veteran of the Iraq War.

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