Thousands are expected to fill an arena in central Newfoundland for a solemn ceremony remembering those killed in terrorist attacks in the United States 25 years ago.

Thirty-eight planes carrying more than 6,500 passengers were grounded in Gander after hijackers took command of four aircraft and crashed them into the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Washington and a field in Pennsylvania.

People in the Gander region dropped everything to fill churches and community halls with cots, food and clothing, and they cared for the passengers for days.

Today’s commemoration begins at 2:00 in Gander, and VOCM News is there.

A former passenger on Lufthansa Flight 416 is back in Gander to attend ceremonies to mark the 25th anniversary of 911.

Tony Toluba says passengers were informed by the flight crew that they were being diverted to Gander due to terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

Toluba, who is from Rochester, New York says his first thought was that the diversion would be a relatively minor inconvenience.

“For me Canada was Toronto,” and he thought he could rent a car and drive home, “not realising that we’re coming to Gander, and it’s on Newfoundland, and Newfoundland is an island, and ‘oh, by the way, there’s a hurricane coming.'”

The plane was on the tarmac for an extended period of time, and passengers had little to no further information on what was happening because it was almost impossible to get a cell signal.

Fortunately, he was sitting next to an Israeli man who happened to have a satellite phone and who was able to call his wife in Israel. She was  watching the latest developments on T.V.

“The early reports were that a small plane hit the World Trade Center,” says Toluba.  “As she learned more, she fed us more,” and he would convey that information to the flight crew.  “Ironically (I) may have known more than the flight crew because of my seat mate.”

Toluba attended ceremonies in Gander last night wearing the same shirt he was wearing on the plane on that fateful day.

Firefighters climb stairs, re-enacting the effort made by first responders in New York

Firefighters from across the metro region took to the stairs outside the Mary Brown’s Centre to recognize the efforts of fellow emergency crews in New York who responded to the attacks on the World Trade Center 25 years ago.

Among the iconic rememories from that terrible day were the images of firefighters and other first responders running toward the burning buildings while others were running away.

Today’s third annual stair climb brought out dozens of firefighters and members of the RNC – climbing the equivalent of the 110 floors of the World Trade Center.

Justin Chow, who is with St. John’s Regional, says it’s hard to fathom what first responders went through on that day in 2001.

“I’ve now realized how many stairs (there were) and what they went through that day. It’s very sobering really when you’re physically doing it and realizing the impact of it.”

Former Mile One Stadium prepared to take in plane people

What was then the brand new Mile One Stadium became a home away from home for many stranded passengers who ended up in St. John’s in the days following 911.

Former General Manager, Glenn Stanford remembers watching the events in New York play out on television that morning from the Delta.

“Little did we know that…two or three hours after that we would be getting a call from the Emergency Measures organization, both from the province and from the city of St. John’s…to ‘be prepared, you’re going to have five or six thousand people coming to your building tonight.'”

Stanford says they were preparing to host the Toronto Maple Leaf training camp at the time. “We thought we would have five or six thousand in for that. Little did we know that we would have a completely different five or six thousand people coming.”

“The plane people would be at Mile One and go into those sections while the practice was going on. And over the PA, the announcement would come for the various airlines so we would tell Quinn and the players, and they would tap their sticks, so that’s one of the memories I have from that time,”

Former St. John’s Deputy Mayor remembers attending to needs of stranded passengers

Marie White, who was deputy mayor of St. John’s at the time, recalls turning the old Convention Centre into a large dorm.

Back then, municipalities either had no emergency plan or crude ones so it was just about people springing into action and forging plans as best they could.

Now Marie Ryan, she was on VOCM Open Line with host Brian Callahan this morning.

She says they had a huge table laid out with soap, deodorant, tooth brushes, tooth paste and even underwear. “I mean, people had nothing.”

She was on the phone constantly trying to get items. “At one point, one of the larger retailers said ‘we have nothing else to give you'” she laughs.

She says it was difficult time for everyone, especially when people had to be told that they were not going home that day.

“We started our shift around 7:00 in the morning…and we were there 15 to 17 hours.” She says the only information passengers were getting came from the television and from other passengers. “Daily they thought they were going home, and daily we had to tell them that they weren’t.”

Appleton, the little town that could

Appleton, just down the highway from Gander took in as many stranded airline passengers as it could at the time.

Former Mayor Derm Flynn, who worked with the town of Gander says he was on vacation at the time, and knew immediately once it became clear that planes were landing, that they would have to take action.

He told VOCM Open Line with Brian Callahan he anticipated that Appleton would have to be prepared to accommodate some unexpected visitors.

He notified staff in Appleton that they would probably have to take in some passengers, never knowing at the time just how many people were coming. He says the local radio station was reporting where volunteers would need to go and what kind of items would be needed. “People were showing up with bedding…we were ready and willing to support Gander’s effort.”