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Former Iron Ranger Tells Of Piracy Incident

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May 11, 2009 10:53 am US/Central

Former Iron Ranger Tells Of Piracy Incident

VIRGINIA, Minn. (AP) ― Former Virginia resident Derek Erickson recently put aside his computer skills to take up a weapon and provide security for sailors who survived a clash with Somali pirates.

Petty Officer Erickson is serving aboard the USS Bainbridge in the Indian Ocean as a computer technician. He recently spoke by phone with the Mesabi Daily News.

Erickson says he was on a 18-man security team assigned to the merchant ship Maersk Alabama for its three-day journey in mid-April to Kenya following the crew's battle with pirates.

He says it was a tense trip back, since there were rumors that there might be retaliation against the US Navy and the Alabama's crew.

The experience, he says, drove home that, "This isn't Disneyland. This is real."

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Last month, Minnesota House Minority Leader Marty Seifert commented that no taxpayer dollars or state grants go to groups supporting pirates, after Twin Cities-based Somali advocate Omar Jamal said he helped get an attorney for the Somali teen facing piracy and hostage-taking charges.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.