FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (Dec. 17, 2015) -- During a time of year when many Families are hanging wreaths to lend an air of festivity to the holiday season, a large group gathered at Fort Campbell's Task Force 3-502nd Memorial Tree Park Saturday to lay a different wreath -- one to honor the 248 Soldiers and eight crew members who lost their lives at Gander, Newfoundland Dec. 12, 1985.
To mark the 30th anniversary of the tragic event that claimed the Soldiers returning to Fort Campbell from a peacekeeping mission in the Sinai Peninsula, fellow Soldiers, Family members, veterans of Task Force 3-502nd and supporters from surrounding communities convened amid the 256 Canadian Sugar Maple trees to once again grieve, laugh and remember.
Strike standing strong, then and now
"With over a decade of continuous conflict, it may be difficult for some of our Soldiers today to put into perspective what happened 30 years ago," said Col. Brett G. Sylvia, commander of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division. "There are veterans in our ranks with multiple combat tours who were not even born 30 years ago."
Sylvia said that, in spite of the lack of contextual reference, there were many important things about the tragedy that today's Soldiers do understand about the Soldiers of 3rd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment. "They know that 248 Soldiers and eight crew members were lost that day," Sylvia said. "They know that their motto was 'Strike and Kill.' And they know now by looking over this crowd gathered here today that there were many people who cared for them very deeply."
Sylvia told the gathered crowd of the mission carried out by the 3-502nd Soldiers while in the Sinai, calling them "torch-bearers" of the missions carried out by Strike Soldiers today.
"If you review their deployment, you'll find Soldiers in the unit exactly like those of the 502nd today," he said. "Energetic, charismatic, strikingly handsome and always itching to fight and train."
Though people gathered Saturday to remember what Sylvia called "the worst peacetime aeronautic disaster in the history of the Army," he said that the ceremony was also a cause for rejoicing.
"We also rejoice in the power to rebound, to remember the happiness and peace those Soldiers brought to the world," Sylvia said. "But most importantly, to rejoice in the ability our sorrow had in unifying us as Soldiers, unifying us as Families, unifying us as towns and even as nations."
Sylvia spoke of the unity between Soldiers, past and present, who gathered to pay tribute to a set of colors now only flown once a year -- a worthy tribute to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice to keep peace as part of the Multinational Force and Observers.
"I was reminded last night by the many 'Strike and Kill' veterans that this battalion is still so very much alive and part of the Strike team," Sylvia said. "The Soldiers of Strike today are just the temporary custodians of an incredible and enduring legacy."
Sylvia closed his remarks by referencing a speech delivered by President Ronald Reagan, who arrived at Fort Campbell four days after the tragedy to attend a memorial ceremony. As words of comfort to the grieving Families, Reagan said that "love is never lost."
"And we know it's true by the presence here today of so many thoughtful, steadfast individuals, bound together by a shared cause -- to help those that were aggrieved and to remember those who have fallen," Sylvia said.
A brother, son and peacekeeper
Following the ceremony, Family members and friends of the fallen gathered at the somber panels of granite on which the names of the Soldiers and crew members are etched.
Raquel Serna glanced over the list of names briefly before kissing her fingers and placing them on the name of Private 1st Class Ernest William Serna. The 30th anniversary ceremony marks the second time she has come to Fort Campbell with her husband, Guillermo, to honor the memory of their son. For the first time, they brought with them their son, Javier, who was 19 years old when he lost his brother.
"I was going to work and we got the phone call," Javier said of that fateful morning. "And I came home to unfortunately very bad news. Everybody began to mourn and wonder what was going on. It was a crazy time."
Though 30 years have passed, Javier said that the emotions surrounding the event -- and the subsequent memorial -- are present and vivid.
"The feelings are overwhelming -- words can't describe," he said. "It's just something that I needed to see for myself. It was kind of like closure. That's basically all I can really say."
For Guillermo, it is hard to see the cycle of deployments continue after losing a son at such a young age. It is a grief, he said, that is shared among Soldiers and their Families.
"They were supposed to be stopping the other kids from falling in this type of situation," Guillermo said. "Now you see all of these Soldiers right here and their Families. We still keep talking about sending them and sending them. They should take care of the Families. When they say 'the Soldier,' it also includes the Families."
For their part, the Serna Family continues to remember the sacrifices made by Ernest, along with the other Soldiers who lost their lives on the flight.
"I have the utmost pride," Javier said of his brother. "He did his job, and he did it well. That's all that matters."
Survival and centering
Among the crowd could also be seen men in familiar orange berets -- the telltale signs of MFO Soldiers, bound by the unique experience of a multinational peacekeeping mission. Like others, these men attended the memorial ceremony to grieve friends and console Families -- but also for the chance to retune their own perspectives.
"If I'm having a hard time, I think about these guys," said retired Sgt. 1st Class Joe Casper, who served with the 3-502nd in the Sinai and has attended several of the ceremonies at Fort Campbell. "Most of these guys were in their 20s, and they didn't get to see their lives. They were young Soldiers that gave their lives for the mission. I'm blessed to be here. If I'm having a hard time, I tell myself that I've got to stay strong for the Soldiers that can't be here."
"It refocuses you and gets you centered in life," said retired Sgt. Michael Sinko. "Any little problems you think you might have -- your lawn or your car -- you think of the true meaning of what others have gone through, you come here and you feel that you've truly become a part of something."
Coming to the memorial ceremonies also gives the MFO Soldiers the opportunity to forge new bonds with the friends and Family members of the fallen -- and to rekindle friendships that began during a time of peril in the Sinai Peninsula.
"We've seen many Soldiers that I served with, [that I] haven't seen in 30 years," Casper said.
Casper said he was particularly pleased to learn that one of his comrades had recently visited Naama Bay, which was a popular spot for swimming and scuba diving when the peacekeepers were allowed downtime.
"The place was kind of run down when we were there -- actually it was very run down," Casper recalled. "But he brought these pictures and showed them to us and it looks like paradise now. We started that peacekeeping mission in '82, and over 30 years that place looks the way it does now, in part because of our efforts."
But the main purpose of returning to the memorials, according to the veterans, is to remember the friends they lost on that cold winter's morning.
"It's all about supporting the Families of the fallen Soldiers," Casper said. "And being that we knew some of them, this is good. We didn't forget."
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