Project 2996: Staff Sgt. Maudlyn A. White

"Project 2996” is a tribute to the victims of 9/11. In 2006, more than 3,500 volunteer writers came together on September 11, each to blog in memory of a single victim. Once again, we pool our collective talents to remember and honor the men and women who were lost.

Staff Sgt. Maudlyn A. White is described by those who knew her as a quiet, independent woman. Even so, she touched everyone she came into contact with. A colleague of hers during an assignment in Frankfurt, Germany, said, “You showed me how I could be a strong person. You influenced my life greatly…”

At almost six feet tall, Staff Sgt. White’s friends and co-worker literally and figuratively looked up to her. “You made me the soldier I am today. The best NCOIC [Non-commissioned officer in charge] I ever had.”

However committed the 16-year Army veteran was to her job though, ultimately her life revolved around her young daughter, Vielka. The two were more than mother and daughter – they were best friends. The joy Staff Sgt. White felt at being a mom was not something she kept to herself. Friends say it could be found in her “big beautiful smile with the whitest teeth ever,” and the way she laughed.

Staff Sgt. White, 38, born in Montserrat and raised in St. Croix, sought knowledge wherever she went and shared it liberally, giving her best to everyone.
She rests now in the shadows of the Pentagon where she was working that day.
It has been inspiring learning and writing about this stalwart “Lady Solider.” She will never be forgotten by those who knew and loved her or by me.