Posts Tagged ‘World War II’

Citizens defeat tyranny: a cautionary example from 1946

December 8, 2013

Collectivists and progressives that now control all three branches of the U.S. government often claim that citizen uprisings against the government are invariably seditious, illegal, and treasonous.

U.S. history does not confirm that point of view.

As late as 1946 a group of citizens did, indeed, mount an armed uprising against government officials, and won. Their victory was even noted publicly by the U.S. Congress, which included a hearty congratulatory commendation by a Tennessee Congressman.

When American GIs were returning home after having served their country in World War II, saving the world from destruction at the hands of Nazi Germany and totalitarian Japan, they slowly reintegrated themselves into the local communities they left behind.

But one group of GIs returned home to east Tennessee only to find that the county government had fallen into the hands of incredibly corrupt politicians who wielded their power like Mafia thugs over the citizens who cowered in fear.

At the forefront of the localized tyranny was one Paul Cantrell, who was elected sheriff in McMinn County, of which the town of Athens is the county seat. The wealthy Cantrell family had backed Franklin Delano Roosevelt for president and were determined to implement New Deal programs on a small scale in McMinn County, even if they had to engage in outright fraud to do so.

For decades the residents of the county had taken pride in the fact that their local politics had been free from divisive partisanship, corruption, and fraud. But during World War II the Cantrell family decided to take advantage of the absence of significant numbers of residents who went away to fight in the war.

Paul Cantrell, thus, was elected sheriff by razor thin margins in 1936, 1938, and 1940. In 1942 and 1944 Cantrell ran for and was elected to the state legislature. And in 1944 Cantrell saw to it that a crony, Pat Mansfield, was elected sheriff. There were widespread reports of voter fraud, corruption, and bullying by local government officials.

In 1946, Cantrell was ready to leave the legislature and run for sheriff once again.

But at the end of 1945 over 3,000 soldiers had returned home to McMinn County. They were appalled by what they saw. The war veterans blamed Cantrell and Mansfield for creating a scenario in which fraud flourished.

Thus, the veterans decided to launch a major campaign against Cantrell which focused on cleaning up the county. These brave, honorable citizens, and those who supported them, wanted to rid county government of graft, dishonesty, dirty deals conducted under the table, and bullying.

Their tactic would be to offer a ballot for county offices on which could be found the names of no candidate but ex-GIs who pledged to work toward the clean-up.

One GI, who spoke at a rally, stated,

“The principles that we fought for in this past war do not exist in McMinn County. We fought for democracy because we believe in democracy but not the form we live under in this county” (Daily Post-Athenian, 17 June 1946, p.1 ).

The GIs requested that the FBI send poll watchers to make sure no fraud would be committed. They received no response whatsoever from the FBI. Similar requests were sent to the FBI in 1940, 1942, and 1944. Again, the FBI did not respond.

At the primary election, Sheriff Mansfield sent in 200 armed deputies to “watch the polls.” But his real motive was to prevent those who supported the GIs from voting. A confrontation ensued. A black resident was told by the Mansfield people that he would not be allowed to vote. The result was that the man was beaten and shot by Mansfield’s thugs. Witnesses said that one of the armed deputies had shot him in the back.

Mansfield ordered some of the GIs detained on election day. Tensions escalated. Fearing the ire of the GIs Mansfield took the ballot boxes to the country jail to be counted. But this only further incensed county residents.

But the GIs were running low on firearms and needed many more in order match Manfield’s deputy thugs. The GIs scoured the county looking for the arms they needed, including the National Guard, State Guard, and local militias. They came away from the search with three M-1 rifles, five .45 semiautomatic pistols, and 24 British Enfield rifles.

With theses arms and the ones they already had, the GIs headed to the jail. Three GIs who had stopped residents to warn them to stay away from the area were fired upon and wounded by county deputies at the jail. Other GIs returned fire upon the deputies.

The fighting that ensued and its conclusion is described by JPFO:

Several who ventured into the street in front of the jail were wounded. One man inside the jail was badly hurt; he recovered. Most sheriff’s deputies wanted to hunker down and await rescue. Governor McCord mobilized the State Guard, perhaps to scare the GIs into withdrawing. The State Guard never went to Athens. McCord may have feared that Guard units filled with ex-GIs might not fire on other ex-GIs.

At about 2 a.m. on August 2, the GIs forced the issue. Men from Meigs County threw dynamite sticks and damaged the jail’s porch. The panicked deputies surrendered. GIs quickly secured the building. Paul Cantrell faded into the night, having almost been shot by a GI who knew him, but whose .45 pistol had jammed. Mansfield’s deputies were kept overnight in jail for their own safety. Calm soon returned. The GIs posted guards. The rifles borrowed from the armory were cleaned and returned before sunup.

In the end the GIs won the election and their victory was properly certified. A system was put into place that would greatly lessen the risk of fraud and corruption in county government and elections. A more complete description of these events can be found here, including reaction by major newspapers across the country.

Thus, when government becomes so corrupt that it loses the respect, support, and confidence of decent, honest citizens, the Athens experience shows that the taking up of arms to use against the forces of government tyranny is the honorable thing to do, proving that honorable, honest, and corruption-free government can be restored by taking away the power of dirty politicians — by force if necessary.

ALERT! BRAND NEW!

A new entry has been posted on my blog at The Liberty Sphere under the section, “Musings After Midnight.” It is titled, “With ear to the ground, more rumblings heard from the political landscape.”

NOTICE.

Read one of my most popular entries on my blog in the popular series, Musings After Midnight, titled, “The Stealth War.”

My series “Musings After Midnight” is now indexed at my blog, The Liberty Sphere.

Cross Posted with Permission.

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“All of us “old farts”

October 10, 2013

From none other than TexasFred,

The typical U.S. household headed by a person age 65 or older has a net worth 47 times greater than a household headed by someone under 35, according to an analysis of census data released Monday.  If all of us “old farts” have all of the money, then let us try to elect someone who might be near honest and not be after feathering their own nests.

They like to refer to us as senior citizens, old fogies, geezers, and in some cases dinosaurs.  Some of us are “Baby Boomers” getting ready to retire.  Others have been retired for some time.  We walk a little slower these days and our eyes and hearing are not what they once were.  We have worked hard, raised our children, worshiped our God and grown old together.  Yes, we are the ones some refer to as being over the hill, and that is probably true.  But before writing us off completely, there are a few things that need to be taken into consideration.

In school we studied English, history, math, and science which enabled us to lead America into the technological age.  Most of us remember what outhouses were, many of us with firsthand experience.

We remember the days of telephone party-lines, 25 cent gasoline, and milk and ice being delivered to our homes.  For those of you who don’t know what an icebox is, today they are electric and referred to as refrigerators.  A few even remember when cars were started with a crank.  Yes, we lived those days.

We are probably considered old fashioned and out-dated by many.  But there are a few things you need to remember before completely writing us off.  We won World War II, fought in Korea and Viet Nam.  We can quote The Pledge of Allegiance, and know where to place our hand while doing so.  We wore the uniform of our country with pride and lost many friends on the battlefield.  We didn’t fight for the Socialist States of America ; we fought for the “Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.”

We wore different uniforms but carried the same flag.  We know the words to the Star Spangled Banner,  America , and  America the Beautiful by heart, and you may even see some tears running down our cheeks as we sing.  We have lived what many of you have only read in history books and we feel no obligation to apologize to anyone for America.

Yes, we are old and slow these days but rest assured, we have at least one good fight left in us. We have loved this country, fought for it, and died for it, and now we are going to save it.  It is our country and nobody is going to take it away from us.  We took oaths to defend America against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and that is an oath we plan to keep.  There are those who want to destroy this land
we love but, like our founders, there is no way we are going to remain silent.

It was mostly the young people of this nation who elected Obama and the Democratic Congress.  You fell for the “Hope and Change” which in reality was nothing but “Hype and Lies.”

You have tasted socialism and seen evil face to face, and have found you don’t like it after all.  You make a lot of noise, but most are all too interested in their careers or “Climbing the Social Ladder” to be involved in such mundane things as patriotism and voting.  Many of those who fell for the “Great Lie” in 2008 are now having buyer’s remorse.  With all the education we gave you, you didn’t have sense enough to see through the lies and instead drank the ‘Kool-Aid.’  Now you’re paying the price and complaining about it.  No jobs, lost mortgages, higher taxes, and less freedom.

This is what you voted for and this is what you got.  We entrusted you with the Torch of Liberty and you traded it for a paycheck and a fancy house.

Well, don’t worry youngsters, the Grey-Haired Brigade is here, and in 2014 we are going to take back our nation.  We may drive a little slower than you would like but we get where we’re going, and in 2014 we’re going to the polls by the millions.

This land does not belong to the man in the White House nor to the likes of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.  It belongs to “We the People” and “We the People” plan to reclaim our land and our freedom.  We hope this time you will do a better job of preserving it and passing it along to our grandchildren.  So the next time you have the chance to say the Pledge of Allegiance, Stand up, put your hand over your heart, honor our country, and thank God for the old geezers of the “Grey-Haired Brigade.”

Footnote:
This is spot on.  I am another Gray-Haired Geezer signing on.  I will circulate this to other Gray-Haired Geezers all over this once great county.

Can you feel the ground shaking???
It’s not an earthquake, it is a STAMPEDE.

All so very true my friend!

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