World War II Companies D, E and F, 502PIR, were neither airborne nor air assault. The rotation plan was found to be unworkable and was quietly abandoned. On 12 December 1985, a chartered airliner carrying 248 members of Task Force 3-502 crashed and exploded after takeoff at Gander, Newfoundland, Canada. Mostly from HHC and Company A, they were on the final leg returning from six months of peacekeeping duty in the Sinai Peninsula between Egypt and Israel. The official Canadian government report said it was ice buildup on the wings that caused the crash, but other investigators have pointed to signs of an explosion and suggested everything from terrorism to smuggled souvenir ordnance instead. Whatever the reason, it is the deadliest single day in division history by some counts, outdoing both 6 June 1944 and Vietnam's Battle of Hamburger Hill. LTC Marvin Jeffcoat became the third of the five officers who had commanded 3–502 to that point to die in command. President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan attended an emotional memorial service on Fort Campbell. Memorials for the fallen were subsequently constructed at Gander Lake, Newfoundland, Canada; near Fort Campbell in Hopkinsville, Kentucky; and on post between Screaming Eagle and Normandy Boulevards. Persian Gulf War The "Strike" Brigade moved to Saudi Arabia as part of Operation Desert Shield in late summer 1990 to deter a possible Iraqi invasion. During Operation Desert Storm, the 2d Brigade and 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) cut the enemy's lines of communications, struck deep into the country, threatened a strike against the capital, and shut off any escape. On 24 February 1991, the "Strike" Brigade participated in the largest helicopter air assault in military history to establish FOB Cobra and FOB Viper with the final objective to cut off Iraqi forces on Highway 8 from moving west and supplies from Basrah. The brigade redeployed to Fort Campbell in March 1991. Peacekeeping In December 1990, 4-502d, was the first unit of U.S. Army Berlin to inactivate, moved to Fort Campbell and cased its colors, the personnel moving to other assignments in the division. On 3 July 1991, soldiers of HHC and Company B, 6th Battalion, 502d Infantry (and elements of the 42d Engineer Co & FIST) became Task Force 6-502d, making the first deployment of the brigade's history, by deploying for Operation Provide Comfort II in Turkey. Upon return to Berlin, in October 1991,