A 35-year-old Anguillian, greatly beloved by her family, is stationed in an area between Kuwait and Iraq where the sound of battle is just subsiding. She is Corporal Sharlene Hennis, daughter of Perpetua (Petty) Benjamin of The Quarter, and Joseph Hennis who resides in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. She is the mother of a 13-year daughter, Sinnara Hennis.

Sharlene, who is well-known in Anguilla, was a student at the former Valley Secondary School, now the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School. She worked at Cocoloba Hotel and Malliouhana Hotel after leaving school. She obtained a US Immigrant Visa in 1991 and traveled to St. Thomas where she continued her schooling for a short period and joined the National Guard in 1992.

Sharlene eventually went to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where she took up duty and later attended various training assignments at US Military bases in a number of other states. When the Coalition Forces commenced war on Iraq, she was moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where she spent some weeks waiting to travel with other military personnel to Turkey, according to family sources. When access to that country did not materialise she, along with her company, were sent to take up duty in Kuwait where she is expected to remain for some time.

“I am proud of her and we love her very much,” her mother “Petty” told The Anguillian.

“She is a bright and a brave girl.” Her family and friends are praying for her safety. She spoke to her mother recently and is doing fine.

Corporal Sharlene Hennis

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