Newspaper Page Text
♦ TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2006
6B
U.S. Attorney's office ready to field election complaints
By RATLIGHTNER
Journal Staff Writer
In order to respond to com
plaints of election fraud or
voting rights abuses today,
the U.S. Attorney’s Office
will have a district election
officer on duty while polls
are open.
Unites States Attorney
Maxwell Wood, Middle
District of Georgia, said
there are “very few, about
HERO
From page tA
When asked why he would
volunteer for the service, his
answer was simple: “Didn t
like plowing or that mule
much.”
During his service time
Abrams rose in rank pretty
quick - especially consider
ing he enlisted at 18.
He attained the rank of
chief petty officer and led
the maintenance team on
the aforementioned USS
Hogan. This duty position,
he said, gave him the ear the
ship’s captain from time to
time - in turn helping him
to help balance out a way
ward sailor or two.
When the ship needed
repair Abrams said “he” was
the chief the captain relied
on.
Abrams had many stories
of a ship, which led the way,
in many actions. Primarily
an Atlantic fleet asset, the
Hogan was later to become
a ship of the Pacific conflict.
Seeing action in places that
many did not come home
from, Abrams recalls a day
anchored just off Iwo Jimo.
The Hogan had been one
of 880 U.S. ships that had
sailed from Hawaii to Iwo in
40 days.
The Hogan’s crew had
assisted the convoy with
mine detection. The crew
had also assisted the land
ing ships to bring the men
into the beach. “The day was
rough from where we stood,”
he said. “But a moment that
stays in my memory was
watching the raising of the
flag on Iwo Jima. There on
the bow no one said a word,
we had seen many of the
troops as they fell during the
battle.”
The ship stayed on duty
months at a time. Abrams
said they were unable to get
many repairs as they had
just entered the most con-
SUSPECTS
From page iA
officers responded to an
armed robbery at Total
Beauty Supply, 1239 Watson
Blvd. The victim, Lee
Friend, told police a black
male came into the business
around 7:40 p.m. and walked
directly to the front of the
counter.
The suspect threatened
Friend with a Ix 6 board,
and told her to give him
the money. Friend’s hus
band came out of the back
room and confronted the
suspect, who then fled the
scene on foot, and was last
seen running east on Watson
Boulevard.
There were no injuries in
this incident. The suspect
is described as a black male,
approx. 5-foot, 10-inches to
6-foot in height, with a slen
der build. He was last seen
wearing a brown jacket, blue
jeans, a black knit type hat,
and had some type of blue
mask covering the lower
portion of his face.
Anyone with information
on either incident is asked
to contact Det. Shane Mann
with the Warner Robins
Police Department-Criminal
Investigations Division at
Great Peals
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half-dozen complaints a
year” over the 70-county
district.
“It’s a very miniscule issue
in our district,” Wood said.
“We have one on call every
election day,” he added, “this
is our third election.”
Wood appointed Assistant
U.S. Attorney Henry J. Fox
Jr., as district election offi
cer for the 70-county Middle
District of Georgia to handle
complaints of fraud and vot
lH II / LJpH
ENI Gary Harmon
Jimmy Abrams holds a picture of his ship.
tentious part of the Pacific
conflict.
On one particular port
visit, the ship was uploading
supplies near Saipan from
the USS Pennsylvania when
Japanese planes came in for
several strafing runs.
The USS Hogan was near
ly empty and seated high in
the water, said Abrams, still
the waves and the action of
the large bombs, slung the
Hogan into the side of the
USS Pennsylvania ruptur
ing the hull of the Hogan
above the water line.
As the ship strove to break
the ropes and head out to
seas boiling from all the
explosions, Abrams said he
had a hard time patching
the hole in the ship since he
could not patch the outside
of the hull.
Abrams and his crew
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ing rights abuses in con
sultation with the Justice
Department and to ensure
that such complaints are
directed to the appropri
ate authorities. “Elections
are usually a state matter,
“Wood said, “unless it vio
lates civil rights.”
The program is the local
portion of the Justice
Department’s Election Day
Program started in 2002 as
the department - wide Ballot
worked to patch the breech
and to bail water. The entire
repair took nearly 48 hours,
mainly due to the breech
being between the bulk
heads.
Abrams recalled - a little
embarrassed - the captain
issuing orders over the loud
speaker: “All hands regard
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—■
LOCAL
Access and Voting Integrity
Initiative.
Wood said most of the com
plaints are referred to the
Secretary of State’s office.
“We supplement what’s
available, we’re not compet
ing with them.”
Wood said, “election fraud
and voting rights abuse
dilute the worth of votes
honestly cast. They also cor
rupt the essence of our rep
resentative form of govern
less of rank ... if Abrams
tells you to do it something,
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ment.”
Any one who has infor
mation suggesting electoral
corruption or voting rights
abuses should call the U.S.
Attorney’s Office, the FBI or
the Civil Rights Division. Fox
can be contacted 7 a.m. to 7
p.m. today, or the following
• day at the U.S. Attorney’s
Office at 752-3511 or 621-
2700.
Wood said the Federal
Bureau of Investigation will
do it without question.”
An unusual fitting had
to be developed to seal the
opening but because of his
focus the ship was able to
stay in action for an addi
tional four or five months
without docking; a stroke of
luck considering the pound
ing that the small fleet was
taking at the edge of the
Marianas.
The only loss of life, for
the crew of the USS Hogan,
Abrams said, was in a return
trip from Casablanca. The
ship took a terrible beating
from an Atlantic storm, dur
ing which, one man was lost.
Abrams said this was the
only casualty for the crew
the entire time he was on
the ship - an unusual record
for the action seen by this
minesweeper.
A long road through many
adventures, but the Georgia
native made it back to his
homeplace in Grovania.
Abrams did not return until
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have special agents avail
able in the district to receive
allegations of election fraud
and other elections abuses.
The FBI can be reached at
745-1271.
Complaints about bal
lot access problems or dis
crimination can also be
made directly to the Justice
Department’s Civil Rights
Division’s Voting Section in
Washington, D.C., at 1-800-
253-3931 or (202) 307-2767.
1946 since he was still obli
gated to the Navy for one
more year.
Not much fanfare greeted
his return, but just being
home was a great reward.
Abrams returned to farming
and in 1952 married Mary
Ellen Mathews.
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