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Frank Wills
February 4, 1948 to September 27, 2000 Pictures Frank Wills I Gravesite I Watergate Hotel I Frank Wills Security Guard Log As the United States Congress moves into another round of impeachment hearings, who will remember Frank Wills. When security guard Frank Wills made his rounds through the Watergate Hotel and Office Complex in Washington, DC on June 17, 1972, at 12:20a.m. he noticed an office door open and the lock covered with tape. He removed the tape, closed the door, and continued his rounds. During his next set of rounds at 1:47a.m. Wills saw the same door open and the lock taped. Housed behind the unlocked doors was the Democratic National Committee Office. Suspicious, Wills called the District of Columbia Police. They arrested five men. All of them tied to the Committee to Reelect the President (Nixon), and so began the Watergate investigation leading to the resignation of President Richard Milhous Nixon on August 9, 1974. Wills earned $80.00 per week as a security guard. After the Watergate break-in, he worked for Dick Gregory and made some money appearing on talk shows. In the movie All the Presidents Men, viewers see a glimpse of Wills. Simeon Booker in a 1976 Jet Magazine article stated, “The audience lustily applauded, showing a sensitivity and a recognition which was not given him by the authors who could not have written the best-selling book (which doesn’t mention his name) or made the movie if there had been no Frank Wills.” Wills died September 27, 2000, in poverty. _____________________________________________________________________________________________
PICTURES: Frank Wills Newspaper picture AP Wire photo. Gravesite picture taken November 26, 2019. Watergate Hotel Record Group 21: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685 � 1991; NARA, College Park, MD. Frank Wills Security Guard Log Record Group 460: Records of the Watergate Special Prosecution Force, 1971 � 1977; NARA, College Park, MD. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ SOURCES: Internet "‘The Post’ and the forgotten security guard who discovered the Watergate break-in." https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/12/22/the-post-and-the-forgotten-security-guard-who-discovered-the-watergate-break-in/. Web. 25 Nov. 2019. "Document for June 17th: Security Officer's Log of the Watergate Office Building Showing Entry for June 17, 1972." https://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/todays-doc/index.html?dod-date=617. Web. 25 Nov. 2019. "Frank Wills (1948-2000)." https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/people-african-american-history/frank-wills-1948-2000/. Web. 25 Nov. 2019. "Frank Wills, 52; Watchman Foiled Watergate Break-In." https://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/29/us/frank-wills-52-watchman-foiled-watergate-break-in.html. Web. 25 Nov. 2019. Site Visit Frank Wills gravesite. Mount Transfiguration Baptist Church Cemetery, North Augusta, SC. 26 Nov. 2019. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ INTERRED: Frank Wills gravesite. Mount Transfiguration Baptist Church Cemetery, North Augusta, SC. 26 Nov. 2019. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ SUBMITTED: December 4, 2019. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ Like Us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @ FindFamilyRoots. |
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