Clarksville Now
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – On Dec. 12, 1985, Amy Gallo was at home on Fort Campbell, expecting to welcome her husband, Staff Sgt. Richard S. Nichols, home from a six-month peacekeeping mission in the Sinai Peninsula.
She did not expect her 2-year-old son to call her over to the television with the news that her husband, along with 256 others, would not be making it home.
Nichols was one of 248 soldiers and eight crew members who lost their lives when Arrow Flight 1285 crashed in Gander, Newfoundland, shortly after takeoff that morning.
“It was our fifth anniversary, actually, and he called me and told me go to the gym, he’d be there in 3 1/2 hours,” Gallo said. “I went to the the gym, and they sent us home and said the plane was late. So I went home and was making cinnamon rolls when my son came in.”