Jeremy Reppy's Reviews > The Fighting Bunch: The Battle of Athens and How World War II Veterans Won the Only Successful Armed Rebellion Since the Revolution

This was an interesting book. In the late 1930s and 1940s, McMinn County, Tennessee, including the town of Athens, was under the control of a corrupt Democrat party political machine (Crump/Cantrell). The local Democrat office-holders, including the county sheriff, as well as his deputies, rigged the elections to ensure the "correct" candidates won and used their power and authority to harass the local residents and pad their bank accounts. On election day, they would arbitrarily close precincts, refuse to count ballots from precincts their candidate had lost in the past, post armed officials outside of precincts, stuff the ballot boxes with fraudulent ballots, engage in absentee ballot fraud, refuse to allow people to vote if they were expected not to vote the "correct" way, harass and beat up election observers who tried to keep the count honest, etc. In between elections, the elected officials abused their power. The sheriff and his deputies would make false arrests and charge the detainees for expenses that never occurred, such as serving warrants, subpoenaing witnesses, and hailing the detainee miles to jail (even if the arrest had occurred a block away from the jail).

The local Congressman, John Jennings, tried to get the Tennessee government and the federal Department of Justice to take action without much success. Lawsuits to force the election laws to be upheld tended to go in the favor the "machine". A group of WWII veterans, having returned home from fighting and defeating Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan to help ensure freedom and democracy around the world, decided they had to take a stand to defend and preserve freedom and democracy in their town. They formed the "GI ticket" and convinced the local Republican party to formally endorse it. They were able to garner lots of support, though much of it was in secret, as the residents of Athens and the surrounding towns did not want to attract the attention of the corrupt, abusive sheriff and his deputies. On the day of the election, August 1, 1946, the GI ticket was winning in those precincts where ballots were counted fairly. However, the "machine" utilized its typical tactics, including bringing in a large number of armed individuals to intimidate voters and ensure the count went the "correct" way. Ultimately, a group of veterans decided to use force to ensure the ballots were counted correctly, leading an assault on the county jail in Athens, where a group of deputies had hidden with some of the ballot boxes. When the ballot boxes were obtained and the ballots openly and accurately counted, the GI ticket won overwhelmingly.

The story of the "Battle of Athens" has been well hidden for decades, as many of the participants did not want to be too open about their activities, not wanting to face possible criminal charges, and the residents of Athens wanted life to return to a semblance of normalcy, with free and fair elections and honest leaders. However, the author was able to locate a considerable amount of material related to the events in Athens, Tennessee, scouring archives and contacting as many of the participants and/or their relatives that he could locate to hear their recollections and obtain any letters, memorabilia or other documents. As a result of his extensive research, the author is able to do a great job of portraying what life was like in Athens and surrounding areas in the last 30s and early to mid 40s, portraying the massive corruption and fraud, discussing the military careers of some of the veterans, and providing details as to what type of people these veterans and their family, friends, and supporters were, as well as their lives after the "battle of Athens." The events made news headlines around the country and provoked responses from some influential people. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt stated in a newspaper column, "We may deplore the use of force but we must also recognize the lesson which this incident points for us all. People must be able to determine their fate at the ballot box in a fair election. Ultimately, Americans would not accept living under tyranny. The decisive action which has just occurred in our midst is a warning, and one which we cannot afford to overlook."

Thankfully, the degree of corruption and abuse perpetrated by the Crump/Cantrell political machine would not be allowed to happen today. However, incidents of intimidation at precincts and incidents of absentee ballot fraud still occur, with the likelihood of such fraud increased in the current political climate, with the high degree of divisiveness and the expected heavy reliance on absentee ballots/voting by mail due to Covid-19, especially in states not adequately prepared to handle the greatly increased volume of absentee voting. While armed revolution will hopefully never again be required to preserve our voting rights and basic liberties, "The Fighting Bunch" is a reminder of the need for vigilance.

I received a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for a review.