The Day the World Came to Town opens with a history of the town and an explanation of the strategic military and commercial importance of Gander International Airport. On September 11, DeFede reports that Gander, with a population of approximately 10,000, accepted 38 previously unscheduled planes carrying approximately 6,800 passengers and crew, most of which were stranded there until U.S. airspace reopened nearly a week later.[3]
From The Newport Beach Independent:
- "In what is, I’m sure, one of the few truly uplifting volumes about 9/11, we meet the ordinary folks, who on a moments notice transformed their town into a giant shelter to welcome the “plane people.”
- Ganderites offered their cars, food, showers, and beds to the strangers who would soon become honorary “Newfies.”[4]
