30 Years Ago 3/502nd

The members of 3d Bn, 502nd Infantry, 101st Airborne, along with 11 other Forces Command personnel and one member of the CID, had been were coming home to Ft. Campbell from a 6 month deployment on a peacekeeping mission in the Middle East. They had flown from Cairo to Cologne, then from there to Gander, Newfoundland. They had just taken off on the last leg of the journey to be home for Christmas. They would never make it. The chartered DC-8 crashed. All 248 service members and 8 flight crew perished in the crash.

All of those on board this flight had families and friends who's lives were forever changed in an instant. This tragedy touched all of them in ways we will never fully understand. Those who served with them in the 101st were also deeply affected by the loss. It has been 29 years since this accident. Time has passed, but the pain of loss never goes away. The memories remain, the love that was shared, still exists in the hearts of those who remain.

President Reagan spoke at the memorial service and shared these poignant words, "Love is never wasted, love is never lost, love lives on and sees us through sorrow".

The names of those we lost that day can be found here: Gander Disaster

Jerry Parr, American Hero

Jerry Parr, September 16, 1930- October 9, 2015, was the Secret Service agent in charge of Ronald Reagan's security who's quick actions are credited with saving the president's life following the assassination attempt in 1981.

Jerry was a veteran of the United States Air Force before becoming a Secret Service agent.

There is a website that has lots of information about Jerry. It is the website for his book In The Secret Service.

There is also a well written article concerning his passing, written by Del Quentin Wilbur, author of Rawhide Down, a very detailed examination of the events that day. That article can be found here.

We should all be thankful for men like Jerry Parr and those who served alongside him, like Agent Tim McCarthy, who literally stepped in front of the president and took a bullet that day. These are not average people. They are very special people who do a job that often gets overlooked except in the instances of tragedy and chaos.

Jerry posted his last message on Twitter, just 3 months before he died. It said, simply, but profoundly, "Love is enough". It also featured this photo of Jerry and his wife, Carolyn:

Thank you Jerry Parr, for a life well lived, before, during and after your work in the Secret Service.

Parr to the right of Reagan