The Fighting Bunch

In The Fighting Bunch: The Battle of Athens and How World War II Veterans Won the Only Successful Armed Rebellion Since the Revolution, New York Times bestselling author Chris DeRose reveals the true, never-before-told story of the men who brought their overseas combat experience to wage war against a corrupt political machine in their hometown.Bill White and the young men of McMinn County answered their nation's call after Pearl Harbor. They won the freedom of the world and returned to find that they had lost it at home. A corrupt political machine was in charge, protected by violent deputies, funded by racketeering, and kept in place by stolen elections - the worst allegations of voter fraud ever reported to the Department of Justice, according to the U.S. Attorney General. To restore free government, McMinn's veterans formed the nonpartisan GI ticket to oppose the machine at the next election.On Election Day, August 1, 1946, the GIs and their supporters found themselves outgunned, assaulted, arrested, and intimidated. Deputies seized ballot boxes and brought them back to the jail. White and a group of GIs - "The Fighting Bunch" - men who fought and survived Guadalcanal, the Bulge, and Normandy, armed themselves and demanded a fair count. When they were refused the most basic rights they had fought for, the men, all of whom believed they had seen the end of war, returned to the battlefield and risked their lives one last time. For the past seven decades, the participants of the "Battle of Ballots and Bullets" and their families kept silent about that conflict. Now in The Fighting Bunch, after years of research, including exclusive interviews with the remaining witnesses, archival radio broadcast and interview tapes, scrapbooks, letters, and diaries, Chris DeRose has reconstructed one of the great untold stories in American history.

ContentsA Note on NamesPlayersPrologue: In Search of History1. Home, Sweet Home2. On the Little Tennessee River3. Warrior Roots4. The Rise of Paul Cantrell5. The Best Fights of the Season6. Civics at McMinn High7. "Politicos in McMinn Split over Vote Robots"8. The King of Tennessee9. "For the Duration of the National Emergency"10. Everything I Needed to Know About Geopolitics, I Learned from Frank Capra11. George the Ripper12. "We Were Like Young Tigers"13. "A Monstrous, Shocking, and Revolting State of Affairs"14. "High, Dry, and Bare Assed"15. "Six Indicted for Vote Fraud"16. "Come to the Rescue of a Helpless People"17. "Say a Prayer for Your Pal on Guadalcanal"18. United States v. Lattimore et al19. "No Atheists on Tarawa"20. United States v. William Rucker21. From Athens to Normandy22. "I Don't Know Which Way Is Up"23. "Killed in the Service of his Country in Athens, Tennessee"24. "The American Way of Life"25. The Best Year of Their Lives26. In the Basement of the Robert E. Lee Hotel27. "A Thorn in the Flesh"28. The Ballad of Otto Kennedy29. Your Vote Will Be Counted as Cast30. "Do You Think They're Going to Let You Win This Election?"31. The Fourth of July32. "The Hearts and Votes of McMinn County"33. Election Day, 194634. The Battle of the Garage35. Democracy, Athens Style36. The Guns of August37. The Night Watch38. "Groping Back to Normalcy"39. Fort Athens40. Glorious Victory41. Unknown Subjects42. "Let Us Live Together and Love One Another"NotesIndex