Quitman sailor sends message to captain held by pirates

As a culinary specialist aboard the USS Bainbridge, Seaman Terrell White of Quitman had been assigned to prepare a meal for the freighter captain held by pirates.

This was earlier this month when Somali pirates held Capt. Richard Phillips hostage. The Navy destroyer closely followed and kept contact with the small lifeboat where the pirates held Phillips.

On the bottom of an A1 Steak Sauce bottle, Terrell White reportedly affixed a note for Capt. Phillips: “Hang on, sir. We’re coming.”

White wanted the freighter captain to know that the U.S. Navy would not let him down and that everyone, from the USS Bainbridge’s commanding officer Cmdr. Frank Castellano to the culinary specialists, were there for Phillips.

While it isn’t believed that Phillips received the note while a hostage, he heard of it after his daring rescue last week. Phillips met with Terrell White, a 2007 Brooks County High School graduate, aboard the Bainbridge.

“He was a nice guy,” White says of Phillips. “He was in good spirits.”

• Read more about this Sunday in The Times.