The True Story of The Battle of Athens, Tennessee : Lone Star Times

The True Story of The Battle of Athens, Tennessee

by texpat · 10/07/2008 12:19 pm

After I discovered the Spengler column I wrote about in the post below, I noticed M. Simon at Classical Values had also posted on it. Simon is a writer and software engineer who frequently covers Second Amendment news and issues. He made the further point that Americans are not only armed, but have been known on the rare occasion to use their weapons against those in power. He linked to this story which I heard of years ago, but had never read.

It is 1946 and several thousand young veterans have returned to McMinn County, Tennessee to find the recently revived local Democratic Party has seized power in McMinn County and done so in a ruthless and violent fashion. The once proud and powerful Republican Party has receded into apathy and fear. A handful, roughly seventy young men, take back their local government by force of arms and ordnance from a gang of political thugs, just as our Founders intended it to be:

Bill White recalled coming home from overseas with mustering-out pay in his pocket: “There were several beer joints and honky-tonks around Athens; we were pretty wild; we started having trouble with the law enforcement at that time because they started making a habit of picking up GIs and fining them heavily for most anything—they were kind of making a racket out of it.

“After long hard years of service—most of us were hard-core veterans of World War II—we were used to drinking our liquor and our beer without being molested. When these things happened, the GIs got madder—the more GIs they arrested, the more they beat up, the madder we got …”

Before the violent saga ended, the following took place in the midst of a hail of gunfire:

The first dynamite was tossed toward the jail; it landed under Boe Dunn’s cruiser, and the explosion flipped the vehicle over on its top, leaving its wheels spinning. Three more bundles of dynamite were thrown almost simultaneously; one landed on the jail porch roof, another under Mansfield’s car, and the third struck the jail wall. The explosions rattled windows throughout the town; leaves fell from the trees, debris scattered for blocks, and the jailhouse porch jumped off its foundation. The deputies barricaded in the courthouse a block away rushed onto the balcony, eager to surrender. The jail’s defenders staggered from their ruined stronghold and handed the ballot boxes over to the veterans.

If David Zucker or any other film industry figure were worth their salt, they would make a movie depicting this incredible and true chapter in American history. You will never regret taking the time to read the whole thing here.

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Comments

4 Responses to “The True Story of The Battle of Athens, Tennessee”

One Voice on October 7th, 2008 at 12:49 pm

The people of Tennessee are still not only capable of - but willing to - “fight city hall.”

A few years back - about 2001, if I remember correctly (could be wrong about the year) - the state legislature was trying to pass a tax increase. The people of Tennessee objected - not only vocally, but by “invading” the state house in large numbers, and holding it under near riot conditions - untill the lawmakers backed down.

Wish the people of Texas were so willing to put their money where their mouths are….
Maltboy! on October 7th, 2008 at 1:02 pm

You’re right, it would make a great movie, but who in today’s Hollowood has the guts to make a movie in which war heroes are the good guys, democrats are the bad guys, and guns are used as a means for the righteous to triumph over their oppressors?

This looks like a job for Chuck Norris!
bob42 on October 7th, 2008 at 2:31 pm

A lot can happen in 60 years.

Our great country was founded upon the (then) revolutionary notion that people should be governed by their consent. Originally, our government was created to preserve our freedoms. Recently, our government has become more interested in preserving government.

Consider:
Ruby Ridge
Waco
Drug War militarization of local Police
A bloodied and battered 4th Amendment
Asset forfeiture in the absence of criminal charges
FEMA
The PATRIOT Act

An excerpt from a performance of Monster Among Us by Steve & Sekou

calm is not an option
this beast came to kill
we fed it our fear
we taught it our will

but it’s proven harder to keep chained than it was to build

it has electronic ears
listening through walls and floors
laser lenses that watch us in buildings and stores
infrared retinas that see through our doors
photographic eyes, a million and more!

that dangle from street corners
peer out from a million sockets
can check the id in the wallet in your pockets

in every home or any block
it’s easy to tell if your guilty or not
and if your not, you shouldn’t mind
because it doesn’t waste the time there
unless it looks into your mind
and spies a crime there

it knows things that you swear you never told a soul
but we swear we’re still in control
don’t worry! we tell ourselves
the chains will hold

but

the steel chains put in place to make sure we stay safe
have been rusted into red tape that’s too easy to break

weakened with fear based legislation
that cheapens the constitution with alterations
that are helping the monster achieve liberation

as long as it is not free, we are

if it gets free?

we aren’t

I support the 2nd Amendment as much as everyone else here, but suggest that it would be very wise to separate patriotic nostalgia from the reality that is our massive and massively intrusive self-preserving government.

If you open fire on the government, THEY WILL KILL YOU, AND YOUR DOG.
whitetop on October 7th, 2008 at 7:01 pm

I have had nothing but the greatest respect for the citizens of the state of Tennessee. Who can find fault with people who throw a native (at least he claims to be a native) son to the wolves and dedicate their electoral votes to someone more deserving.

We may have to take back our Constitutional Republic one state at a time.