The Fighting Bunch by Chris DeRose

Author:Chris DeRose
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

31

“DO YOU THINK THEY’RE GOING TO LET YOU WIN THIS ELECTION?”

The Machine in McMinn County, which usually controls elections in adjoining counties, has gained a reputation for being tough.

—Nashville Tennessean, July 19, 1946

A sudden blast rattled the new Athens city bus. The spare tire underneath had burst in the extreme summer heat. The passengers were shaken but unharmed, relieved to learn of the accidental source of their scare. The summer of 1946 would be remembered for its tension and sudden explosiveness.1

Phones rang in the dead of night at the homes of GI supporters. Somehow the ones with whispered threats were less scary than the ones with total silence. Menacing postcards appeared in the mail. “I don’t suppose there was one of us who wasn’t threatened,” said Buttram. Knox Henry was threatened on three occasions. In case he didn’t get the message, a deputy clubbed one of his friends in the street, right next to him. Before the votes were counted, Henry would have to survive a serious attempt on his life.

Deputies roughed up GIs caught putting up posters. The sign was stolen off the front of GI headquarters and destroyed. An all-GI meeting was held to discuss the harassment and violence.

Bill White was there. He felt everyone was being naïve.

“Listen,” said Bill. “Do you think they’re going to let you win this election? Those people been taking these elections for years with a bunch of armed thugs. If you never got the guts enough to stand up and fight fire with fire you ain’t gonna win.”

It went over badly. “Naw, we don’t want to do that,” said one GI.

“You better do it or you’re wasting your time,” said Bill.

“Well, Bill, I’ll recommend you to organize to keep them from taking the election,” said Buttram. He hoped this would distract Bill and give him something to do.

“That suits me,” Bill said. He promised to organize a “fighting bunch.” Buttram thought Bill’s approach would get people killed and divert from the real work of the election. He felt as though Bill and the few people who agreed with him were his opposition, as much as Paul Cantrell.2

Nothing else mattered if the GIs couldn’t get poll tax receipts for their voters. A state law exempted GIs who had rendered thirty days of military service in 1945. All they had to do was to verify their service with the trustee’s office, which would record their names in a book and issue a receipt that they would turn in with their ballot (a bill to repeal the poll tax for all veterans had been voted down the previous year by Paul Cantrell and seven of his colleagues on the senate elections committee).3

A group of GIs went to the courthouse for their receipts. Trustee John Kennedy, a Democrat running for reelection on Paul Cantrell’s ticket, told them there was one receipt book for ex-servicemen and it was at Etowah City Hall. They would have to come back another time.

Jim Buttram called Trustee Kennedy: When will your deputy return with the book? Kennedy said he wasn’t sure.

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