Welcome back.
In the days following 9/11,
there was one story that offered a ray of hope
in an otherwise dark time.
It's a story of the small Canadian town
of Gander, Newfoundland.
Population, 10,000, and how they provided refuge
for the nearly 7,000 passengers diverted there
after their flights from Europe were not allowed
to enter U.S. airspace.
It's a subject I know well.
After 9/11, I spent six weeks in Gander,
researching how Gander and the surrounding towns
cared for the plane people,
as the unexpected guests were called.
My book, "The Day the World Came to Town,"
recounted the bonds that were formed.
The story also turned into a hit Broadway musical
called "Come from Away."
20 years after first meeting him, I spoke to Oz Fudge,
who was the town Constable in Gander on 9/11.
Here we are coming up on 20 years.
What do you think?
It seems like it was yesterday,
and then it seems like it was a lifetime ago.
So it was just, so I don't know.
It's hard putting it into words exactly how I feel.
What's your strongest memory from those days?
I think for me, it was just to watch
the way things were happened.
I mean, I don't know if you can consider it a privilege,
or I was lucky or whatever.
But it being in the police vehicle,
and having to go around
to wherever the passengers were.
And I got to watch the reaction,
I got to watch the reaction
when the passengers first arrived,
a couple of days into it and when they were leaving.
And you could see how things were changing,
and how moods were changing as the days went on.
And that was amazing to watch.
Now, you and I have talked about this often.
You don't really see what the folks
in Gander did as being anything extraordinary.
But so many people do.
Why do you think that is?
(Oz sighs)
You know, that's, (laughs) the what is it?
They used call it $84,000 question.
I don't know, 'cause as you know,
Newfoundlanders and Labradorians,
we're very proud people.
No doubt about that, and humble.
And what we did during that week was to us, it was done.
It had to be done, so let's get 'er done.
And that was it.
Once everybody went back,
and we kind of gained perspective on it,
we said, "Oh well, geez, that's good," and off we went.
We never thought no more of it,
until, you know, the attention was brought.
Once, like "The Day the World Came to Town," the book,
as well as now, the play "Come from Away."
If you look at the world today,
and you look at what's happening,
and you see on the TV,
and you see on your Facebook and everything,
how people are getting angry at each other.
And they're fighting on airplanes,
and they're fighting on trains,
and they're fighting in grocery stores.
And now people are looking at this play,
and reading the books,
and seeing the documentaries,
and going, "I remember, I remember."
"That's what it was like when I was growing up,"
and they're longing for that.
You talk about how Newfoundlanders are a proud people.
They're a different sort of people, too.
For those who have never met someone from Newfoundland,
give people a sense of what a Newfoundlander is like.
I mean, we like to laugh.
We can't take too many things too serious.
Life is too short,
and so we like to laugh.
We like to, you know, family is very important to us.
Friends are very important to us.
Strangers are very important to us,
and I think that's the difference.
I think that's basically who we are.
Why are strangers important?
Well, I mean, when you look at an island like us,
and you think about when people come in.
This is a new face.
This is almost like a new family member, when they come in.
So, you know, and that's the way in which we treat it.
You know, you got to remember, like 60, 70 years ago.
Well, 1966 is when we had our highway that went
from one end of the province to the other.
We were finally connected up.
A lot of it was done by boat.
So you never got to see strangers
coming into your community, (laughs)
like we do today.
So I think we still have that sense of excitement
when someone does come to visit.
The idea too, you've talked about with me before,
is the idea of just, you know,
putting your arm around someone, you know,
in troubling times.
Talk a little bit about that. Yes.
When it comes to tragedy,
when it comes to something happening in your life,
you will find someone that will come up to you,
and put their arms around you,
and give you that hug, and whisper in your ear,
you know, "We're there for you, don't worry."
JIM: And that's really what you did on 9/11, as well.
OZ: If you got to see what I saw, you seen that.
You seen people coming up to passengers, locals,
and giving them that hug, and telling them,
you know, "You got nothing to worry about."
"You're here in Newfoundland, Labrador now."
"You got nothing to worry about."
"Don't you worry about a thing, we got ya."
And that's what it was.
There's an expression that I learned,
which was, which I use all the time now,
and I attribute to my time in Newfoundland was,
"You can always add a little bit more water to the soup."
Yes. The idea being that,
if, you know, even if you don't have a lot
to feed your family,
if your neighbor doesn't have any food,
you can always add a little bit more water to the soup.
It may be a little thinner, but at least everyone will eat.
Everyone will eat, and that's exactly what it is.
That's exactly what it is.
And you'll find it right through this province,
and into Labrador, you will find it.
And that's the way in which we look at.
You know, if I got something,
and you got nothing, I'll share what I got.
It may not be much, but we'll share.
We're gonna go through this together.
Another story involved Roxanne and Clark Loper,
who were flying home to Texas after adopting Alexandra,
a two year old girl from Kazakhstan.
While in Gander, the young family stayed
in the home of Bruce and Susan MacLeod.
Oh my God, hi!
Hi. (laughs)
JIM: It's been 20 years
since Roxanne Loper saw Bruce and Susan MacLeod.
I have to go. (laughs)
Bye, Suz!
When you look back on your time,
you know, there in Newfoundland,
what comes to mind now, 20 years later?
(Roxanne laughs)
Good things, all good things.
I miss the people,
and I really don't know.
It's, that's hard to answer.
Well, let me ask it this way.
How, you know, when you think about what they did,
why was that special for you?
What they were able to do to help you,
your family, and so many other people,
tell me why you appreciate that?
Well, because it was terrifying,
and we were all scared,
and we didn't know what was going on.
And they were calm and reassuring,
and they brought peace
to a time that was just crazy.
Do you remember what it was like
the first time you met Bruce?
Yeah, (laughs) what was it like at-
three o'clock in the morning? Bruce, you answer. (laughs)
What was it like at three o'clock in the morning,
when we got together? Right!
And we had been on the plane for eight hours.
(Bruce and Roxanne laughing)
That was on the tarmac.
That's not counting the over the ocean part.
Oh, yeah.
And with a baby, and with an infant.
And with a two year old, yes.
That was very, very, that needed a diaper. (laughs)
Bruce, what do you remember about Roxanne
and her family when you first saw them?
We needed somebody to stay overnight at the Lions Club
because we had 130 people that,
of all different nationalities, whatnot.
We didn't know what could happen
because everybody was in a very high state of...
Anxiety.
And I was in the kitchen,
about three, two, three o'clock in the morning,
just rumbling around.
And Roxanne came in and she was-
That's right. up then.
And we started talking there,
but there isn't a lot of privacy in between.
And we had 100 people who were outside us trying to sleep.
So we went out, sat on the front steps,
until about seven o'clock in the morning and talked.
(Bruce laughs)
And then I went home to get a little sleep.
I guess we just sat there and talked,
and got to know each other pretty good.
What was special about Bruce and Susan,
and how they extended themselves for you?
They were family, immediately.
Bless him.
We sat on those steps and talked.
I remember that.
And yeah, he didn't know what he was getting into with me.
(Bruce and Roxanne laughing)
I gave you my life history.
Pretty much, yeah. (laughs)
I vented, and you listened.
Yep.
Well, there had to be so much uncertainty
with everything that was going on by then.
Everything.
But by then, Roxanne, I'm sure you had seen on TV,
what had happened in New York.
Mm-hmm.
You know, and just living with those,
and just seeing those images and trying to process that.
And you're bringing home a two year old into that world.
Right, that didn't know English,
and had never even been in a car before this.
So yeah, it was chaos, and I did need to vent and bless him.
Bruce was there. (laughs)
Well, in a way that's sort of what Gander provided, right?
They provided folks- Oh, yeah.
that space to be able to try
to process everything that was going on.
Welcome to East Coast, Canada.
It's just the way it is.
That we had people come in that needed help,
and with the Lions Club, our motto is "We serve,"
whether you're in,
people landed in Halifax, or Gander, or St. John's.
They were all greeted in the same fashion.
The big thing with Gander was,
that Halifax you got half a million people,
and you put 10,000 extra in, you don't notice it.
And St. John's, very similar.
But you put 7,000 passengers in a town of 10,000,
you tend to notice that.
So, (laughs) it sort of resonated with us.
And we did what we had to do.
People in need, and we were the ones to provide it.
We literally landed in your lap.
(Bruce laughing)
Yes.
I still have the phone bill from that night.
(Roxanne laughing)
'Cause it all went on my cell phone.
Oh my goodness!
JIM: As Alex has grown up, she's now what?
Almost 22, almost,
right? 22, mm-hmm.
JIM: She's 22.
ROXANNE: Yeah.
How much, you know, I had spoke to her, she gets it.
She understands, she followed this.
But how important was it for you, as she was growing up,
to tell her about this story.
During a time of terrible uncertainty and scariness,
we were embraced by this whole town,
and it made it so much more tolerable and easy.
And it makes me want to continue that.
And I've tried to instill in all of my kids
to continue with that kindness.
You know, anytime they see anyone that needs any help,
we don't know their story,
we don't know what they're going through.
We just know they need help, so help them.
JIM: Bruce, pick up on that though. What do you think?
Well, to give you an idea, Jim,
when we loaded the folks back on the buses
to go back to the plane,
we cleaned up the Lions Club, we put everything away.
And we sat around and had a beer.
And to a person in there, we all said,
"We think we got more out of it,
as far as good feelings and whatnot,
than the passengers did."
Because we felt so good being able to do it.