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We need to remember these hard fought lessons about corrupt government. This is what should be taught in history class.
After that you can teach about another corrupt government --- the Democrat Truman and his Democrat-controlled House & Senate --- that illegally over-threw the Greek government and oppressed the Greek people for 19 years, before deciding that the Greek puppet government wasn't right-wing enough.
Then you can teach about another corrupt government government -- the Democrat Johnson and his Democrat-controlled House & Senate --- that illegally over-threw the Greek government in 1967, and the US backed a repressive regime for 7 years.
And during that time, the US dumped lots and lots and lots of military hardware on Greece. You think M48 tanks fall out of the sky? M60 tanks? F-104 Star-Fighters? F-4 Phantoms? A-7 Corsairs? Destroyers, fast frigates, Honest John missile systems etc etc?
No, that all came from the US, and who do you think paid for that? The Russians, the Brits, the Chinese? No, the Greek people paid for that by being taxed into hell, and having their money stolen and denied services and benefits by a corrupt US-backed dictatorship, well, two dictatorships actually.
It was fun....compulsory church attendance, bans on foreign things like newspapers (except for US propaganda papers), and bans on many other freedoms you enjoy, plus fun things that repressive dictatorships like to do, like kill 8,000 Greek civilians during the first month of fighting.
Historically....
After that you can teach about another corrupt government --- the Democrat Truman and his Democrat-controlled House & Senate --- that illegally over-threw the Greek government and oppressed the Greek people for 19 years, before deciding that the Greek puppet government wasn't right-wing enough.
Then you can teach about another corrupt government government -- the Democrat Johnson and his Democrat-controlled House & Senate --- that illegally over-threw the Greek government in 1967, and the US backed a repressive regime for 7 years.
And during that time, the US dumped lots and lots and lots of military hardware on Greece. You think M48 tanks fall out of the sky? M60 tanks? F-104 Star-Fighters? F-4 Phantoms? A-7 Corsairs? Destroyers, fast frigates, Honest John missile systems etc etc?
No, that all came from the US, and who do you think paid for that? The Russians, the Brits, the Chinese? No, the Greek people paid for that by being taxed into hell, and having their money stolen and denied services and benefits by a corrupt US-backed dictatorship, well, two dictatorships actually.
It was fun....compulsory church attendance, bans on foreign things like newspapers (except for US propaganda papers), and bans on many other freedoms you enjoy, plus fun things that repressive dictatorships like to do, like kill 8,000 Greek civilians during the first month of fighting.
Historically....
Mircea
All part of the bigger picture, thanks for helping out.
The full title of the above YouTube video is " Battle of Athens Tennessee in 1946 by Judge Matt Green "; in it, Judge Green makes a presentation to the Mobile, AL chapter of the Federalist Society. Except for the last paragraph at the end of this post, it is a summary of material presented in the video, which lasts for about an hour.
Athens is the county seat of McMinn County, Tennessee. Beginning with the elections of 1936, a corrupt political machine was established there. By 1946, the leader of the machine was Paul Cantrell, and the county sheriff was Pat Mansfield.
Historical context: acts of corruption committed by the machine
Collecting 'tribute'
At the time of the 1946 election, the funding of the county sheriff's department was based, at least in part, upon how many persons were arrested, incarcerated, and released. This created an economic incentive for unscrupulous persons to do what the sheriff's department did, which was as follows.
Sheriff's deputies would board passenger buses that had arrived in Athens, and arrest innocent passengers on the false charge of public intoxication. If the passengers so booked would plead guilty and pay the fine of $16.50, they could be on their way without further hassle. As outrageous as it was, this method was used to put over $100,000 into the sheriff's department over a four-year period.
Election fraud
ballot boxes were stolen
ballots were counted outside the presence of opposition poll watchers
voters were bribed with money and promises of liquor
voters were intimidated, threatened, and assaulted
during the 1946 election, minors were permitted to vote
Finally, in April 1946, a small group of GI's decided that they'd had enough. They held a secret meeting, and they felt that a GI slate of candidates could win the upcoming election if it were held fairly. In May, a mass meeting of veterans was held, and a GI ticket was fielded. The campaign slogan was: "your vote will be counted as cast". The election would be held at the beginning of August.
Fearing the worst, the GI's reached out for help. They sought assistance from, and received no help from
the state governor,
the U.S. attorney general, and
the FBI field office in Knoxville, TN.
In fairness to the FBI office, it was unable to proceed without the approval of Washington.
Signs of trouble to come
The mayor announced that he would be vacationing on election day, and local merchants closed their businesses so that their employees could go and vote.
Provocations on Election Day
Tom Gillespie: at the 11th Precinct, a man named Tom Gillespie was restrained from voting, because he was black. Two GI poll watchers who objected were taken hostage and held at gunpoint. They both escaped by jumping through a plate glass window. Later, when he attempted to leave the voting location, Mr. Gillespie was shot.
Assault of GI poll watchers: those who objected to illegal activities were assaulted and put in jail
Theft of ballot box: after Mr. Gillespie was shot, the 11th Precinct was closed, the ballot box was stolen, and it was taken to the jail.
the Essankay Garage: three waves of deputies were sent there to disband and arrest GI's who had congregated there. The GI's captured and disarmed them, and removed them from town.
Members of the media: they were "assaulted, arrested, (and their) property (was) seized & destroyed for photographing the election theft"
A Marine veteran named Bill White decided that it was time to act
he had gathered a force of 60 men
Others wanted to avoid the use of force, but White warned them that the only solution was to fight "fire with fire"
White and other men entered the local armory, and gathered 60 Enfield infantry rifles, 2 Thompson submachine guns, and all the ammo that they could carry
Afterwards, White and his men went to the jail. They demanded the release of hostages, and the return of the stolen ballot boxes.
The battle
at about 9pm, the jail and the veterans began to exchange fire
The National Guard
* after the battle began, the state governor decided to activate the Guard
* the Guard was commanded by Brigadier General Hilton Butler
* Butler came to realize that a deployment would have been used to protect political interests
* in his opinion, the Guard should be used only to protect life and property
* therefore, he halted deployment pending further instructions from the governor
* the Guard never did deploy to Athens
for a long time, the jail refused to surrender
the GI's began to use explosive charges
the jail surrendered after the second charge was set off
Cantrell (the head of the political machine) and Mansfield (the sheriff) both escaped
the battle was over by 4:00 the following morning
Immediate Aftermath
although a number of people were wounded, no one had died
the veterans began to patrol the town to keep things calm and under control
The Following Days
The veterans locked up the sheriff's deputies in the jail, and saved them from a mob(s)
gambling and vice dens were raided and shut down
a rumored counterattack by Mansfield and a group of men failed to materialize
the following tendered their resignations:
* the city council (the mayor and all aldermen)
* the sheriff
* the entire Athens police department
an interim government was created, to hold office until the election results could be certified
for precincts for which there were allegations of vote tampering, their results were thrown out
the remaining ballots were counted, and the GI ticket won by 2-1
In 1992, Hallmark produced a film entitled An American Story that is "loosely based" upon the Battle of Athens. At the present time, there is a YouTube video containing the entire film. The video title is " American Story - The Battle of Athens - 1946 Athens, Tennessee - Full Movie ".
Last edited by TedF0ster; 01-04-2020 at 03:41 PM..
We need to remember these hard fought lessons about corrupt government. This is what should be taught in history class.
A couple other valuable history lessons were the Ludlow Massacre In Colorado/NMexico , early 1900's, and the Bonus Army marches, 1934(?) and the use of Federal troops against civilians in both Wounded Knee incidents in the late 1800's and late 1970's, a Mass execution of 38 Native Americans in the 1860's (?) in Minnesota/SD. I can't recall all of the details of these incidents and I did not read about them in History books even in College. I learned about them from older family members except for Wounded Knee in the 1970's. That I learned about from friends that witnessed it from BOTH sides. I also had relatives that played a part in the Ludlow and Bonus Army incidents. I am sure there are many others.
History is written by scholars for the most part. However there is usually an ORAL History of events passed on from generation to generation and these versions may vary.
We need to remember these hard fought lessons about corrupt government. This is what should be taught in history class.
We were never taught about the Battle of Athens or the Bonus Army attack. I wonder if children these days are learning of the Ruby Ridge murders or the Waco massacre.
We were never taught about the Battle of Athens or the Bonus Army attack. I wonder if children these days are learning of the Ruby Ridge murders or the Waco massacre.
I forgot about mentioning RUBY RIDGE and WACO in my post. Thanks for the reminder. We need to be aware of these things. Like some wise man said, "Those who ignore History are doomed to repeat it". But just knowing ONE version of History can also be dangerous.
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Edits to My Previous Post
