Sept. 14, 2001 – On Thursday, the territory received the first official word of the loss of a Virgin Islands life as a result of the terrorist attacks Tuesday on the mainland.
Army Sgt. Maudlyn White of St. Thomas was killed in the assault on the Pentagon outside Washington, D.C., government officials said.
White, the daughter of St. Thomas resident Priscilla Irish and the mother of a 5-year-old daughter, was assigned to duty at the Pentagon.
Gov. Charles W. Turnbull made a public announcement Thursday afternoon to say he had received word of White's death from the Army through V.I. National Guard Adj. Gen. Cleave McBean. On behalf of the people of the Virgin Islands, the governor extended condolences to her family members, friends and comrades.
He called on the territory's residents to "continue to pray for God's blessings on America and on the souls of the lost, for the injured and for their family and loved ones."
Delegate Donna Christian Christensen also expressed her condolences. "Words cannot express my sadness and that of my family and staff upon learning that the tragedy that has so hurt our nation has now extended through the death of Sgt. White to the Virgin Islands," she said.
No details were immediately available concerning White's background, her current assignment or the circumstances of her death.
The governor in his release also asked all Virgin Islanders "to comply with President George W. Bush's declaration" of Friday as a day of prayer "by particpating in services at their houses of worship and faith at noon."
Also in the same release, he spoke out against reported threats made against Arab and Muslim residents of the territory in what was apparently intended as retaliation for Tuesday's attacks. "No religion," he said, "preaches in favor of terrorism against humanity." The Virgin Islands' Muslim and Arab residents, he said, "are as outraged as the rest of us at this vicious terrorist attack upon America."