4 | A9 Trucking
nized skill and expertise ultimately emerged
through its efforts to help the territory fol-
lowing the devastation from a hurricane.
As the northwestern links in the chain of
the Leeward Islands, the American territory
of the Virgin Islands (comprised by St. Croix,
St. John, St. Thomas and Water Island) oc-
cupies an oceanic expanse that separates the
Atlantic from the Caribbean Sea. These is-
lands impart idyllic bliss and beauty in sun-
set strolls along the sandy shores of beaches,
hikes along nature trails and underwater
scuba excursions. It also has ample offerings
for lovers of history as well as for those with
modern passions for shopping, dining and
other recreational diversions. It has been de-
scribed as an island paradise made home by
some of the friendliest and most hospitable
people that travelers will ever encounter, yet
sometimes, in fact, too often for some, these
islands are visited by weather systems seem-
ingly intent on destroying so much of that
paradise. This was certainly the case in 1995
when Hurricane Marilyn roared through the
Caribbean and exacted a toll that claimed
more than a dozen lives and more than $2
billion in infrastructural and residential de-
struction.
