The mysterious Virgin Islands

July 12, 20254 Comments

***Here’s a look at my backyard on St. Croix in the USVI. Yep, as you can see, I’m a spoiled brat.***

I live part time in a place that most people don’t seem to understand. Take Netflix for example, which denied me the opportunity to watch a new TV series by saying, “This title is currently unavailable for viewing in your country.”

Or Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport where the nice people behind the domestic flight counter shake their heads and say, “You have to get into the international flights line.”

Or my gas company in Arizona that refused to let me pay my bill online. “We cannot accept payment from your current location.”

USVI should not be that difficult to explain. It means the United States Virgin Islands. It’s just like living in Pennsylvania, or Colorado, or Montana, just without the flamboyant sea view.

And now I will put on my history teacher cap and explain. The U.S. Virgin Islands include 50 minor islands and cays, as well as St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix, where I get to sit on my patio and stare at the ever-changing colors of the Caribbean Sea whenever I want. Doesn’t that sound nice? These islands were purchased from Denmark—one of seven nations to hold sway here—in 1917 for a cool $25 million dollars in gold. That was the year the U.S. entered World War I and the thinking was it would be detrimental if the Germans got a foothold in the Caribbean, especially in the Virgin Island’s where there are several natural deep-water ports, the perfect place to park some of their warships so they could wreak havoc near American shores. In 1927 the islands were deemed an unincorporated territory and their inhabitants were granted U.S. citizenship.

If like the aforementioned entities you’re still skeptical, note that we even have ZIP codes, which are pretty much nonexistent outside of the U.S. Now, it’s true that Virgin Islanders do not get to vote in presidential elections, but we do have one non-voting representative in Congress. We are just like Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and the other U.S. Territories. When I set foot on my little island, I am on United States soil.

Here’s the thing. The U.S. Virgin Islands are magnificently beautiful with their tropical climate and the mesmerizing Caribbean Sea that surrounds them. And they have fascinating history. Way back in 1493, a landing party of two dozen men was sent ashore by Christopher Columbus who was on his second voyage to the New World. They were met by a group natives who were surely astonded by the 17 ships they found in the waters off their shores. When the sailors captured women and children to be slaves, the natives fired arrows at them. One native was decapitated by Columbus’ men. It is the first documented instance of resistance by American indigenous peoples against European colonists. St. Croix alone boasts two forts built almost 300 years ago: Fort Chistiansvaern and Fort Fredrik, constructed to protect the island from other nations and the marauding pirates who periodically showed up waving the skull and cross bones. How cool is that? And let’s not forget young Alexander Hamilton who hip-hopped his way around St. Croix, before skipping over to the mainland to do his Founding Father thing.

But I digress.

I’m not sure what else I can say to convince the naysayers that the lovely island I call home is part of the United States. Maybe you can pass the word.

Your Forgotten Sons

Inspired by a true story

Anne Montgomery

Bud Richardville is inducted into the Army as the United States prepares for the invasion of Europe in 1943. A chance comment has Bud assigned to a Graves Registration Company, where his unit is tasked with locating, identifying, and burying the dead. Bud ships out, leaving behind his new wife, Lorraine, a mysterious woman who has stolen his heart but whose secretive nature and shadowy past leave many unanswered questions. When Bud and his men hit the beach at Normandy, they are immediately thrust into the horrors of what working in a graves unit entails. Bud is beaten down by the gruesome demands of his job and losses in his personal life, but then he meets Eva, an optimistic soul who despite the war can see a positive future. Will Eva’s love be enough to save him?

Amazon

Bookstores, libraries, and other booksellers can order copies directly from the Ingram Catalog.

Anne Montgomery’s novels can be found wherever books are sold.

Goodreads

Amazon

Sea Turtles: Magical ocean ambassadors

June 21, 2025Leave a comment

Any scuba diver will tell you that often the highlight of a dive is meeting up with a sea turtle. These almost magical ambassadors of the ocean rarely seem afraid of humans, even though we might appear scary clad in our diving gear, emitting plums of bubbles that make us appear much larger than we actually are. Yet, sea turtles often swim right up to us, staring as we stare back. Then they gently move their flippers and glide away, seeming to fly more than swim.

I mention sea turtles because last week I had the opportunity to head out to Sandy Point Wildlife Refuge, a wild spot of forest and beach on the west end of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands where I live part of the time. The refuge was designed with sea turtles in mind.

Since I’ve been diving a couple of decades now, I’ve seen a lot of beaches, but when we emerged from the forest I gasped at the color of the water. It was a creamy turquoise caused by a convergence of currents that splash up onto a white sand beach scattered with long tendrils of green vines. Add in the various blues of the Caribbean Sea farther out and the early evening sky, and, as you can imagine, it was magnificent.

But while the view was exceptional, what was below us was of primary importance. Our guides from the St. Croix Sea Turtle Project explained that there were about 1,500 turtle nests beneath our feet, so the area is closed to the public from April through August. Green turtles, hawksbill turtles, and massive leatherbacks that can reach up to two-thousand pounds come to this beach every year to lay their eggs, a journey that takes them thousands of miles to Canada and back.

***The volunteers of the St. Croix Sea Turtle Project were kind enough to escort us through the Sandy Point Wildlife Refuge where we learned all about the sea turtles that nest in the Virgin Islands.*** ***(Fun Fact: The final scene of the film Shawshank Redemption was filmed on this beach.)***

That trip is fraught with danger. Often turtles come ashore with wounds inflicted by tiger sharks and propellers from boats. Fishermen take their share, as turtles are still harvested legally in some places for food. They also get caught in fishing nets and drown. And the land is not much more hospitable. Nests are ravaged by dogs, as well as mongooses and rats, invasive species brought to the islands by European colonists. Humans, too, take a toll. That’s why rules are in place on all Virgin Islands beaches forbidding chairs and tent poles that sink into the sand, as one never knows exactly where a turtle nest might be.

Sea Turtles today are an endangered species, the result of 200 years of over hunting, as they were valued for their meat, eggs, and shells. Climate change and coastal development have also eroded nesting and foraging habitats. Countries worldwide now protect sea turtles and in the U.S. penalties for harming them can including jail time and fines of up to $15,000 for each offense.

I sat in the sand and stared at the sea. Then I placed my palm on the warm sand. Was there a nest below? Would tiny hatchlings eventually emerge and head for the sea where only one in 1,000 would survive to adulthood?

As our guides herded us off the beach, I was glad these dedicated volunteers were there, focusing on sea turtle research and conservation, because a world without sea turtles would be a world with a little less magic.