The Battle of Athens: World War II Veterans Overthrew a Corrupt Local Government

The United States government has never been overthrown by armed insurrection, even if it came close once or twice. The reason for this is the solid foundation of democratic principles on which our constitutional republic was founded. During World War II, millions of American men and women joined the military to defend those principles from anyone who might usurp them. Most came home to find their country and its democracy intact. 

The GIs who came home to McMinn County, Tennessee, found something entirely different. Their service was not only not appreciated, but they found a corrupt local government that would pull stunts from the playbook of every ruthless dictator they had just fought—and they weren’t going to just sit there and take it. 

In 1936, Paul Cantrell was elected McMinn County Sheriff. For ten years, Cantrell and the corrupt machine he built there maintained power using voter suppression and intimidation tactics, a fee system for arrests that the deputies would pocket for themselves, and blatant manipulation of local elections. They even took protection money from local vice rackets, including illegal gambling and prostitution rings.

When U.S. troops came home after serving, they found they were not exempt from harassment by the sheriff and his deputies. But they didn’t jump the gun and start a rebellion –  at least, not right away. 

The veterans still believed in the democratic process for which they fought so hard. For the 1946 election, they started their own political party, the GI Non-Partisan League, in Athens, Tennessee, to challenge the ruling government and unseat them legally. But dictators don’t go down easy. The sheriff used his deputies to try to intimidate the GIs and their supporters, which even led to violence. Then, voter suppression began.

The county had one voter registration book, which couldn’t be found whenever a GI tried to register. If it were available, sheriff’s deputies would take the would-be voter into custody on some trumped-up charge. On Election Day, deputies manned the polling stations in an attempt to intimidate voters or prevent likely GI voters from voting altogether. A deputy even shot and killed 60-year-old Tom Gillespie to prevent him from casting a ballot. When all was said and done, the ballot boxes were squirreled away, hidden in the local jail. 

That was the last straw. The World War II veterans of McMinn County had tried to do things the right way, but now they were forced to take up arms: the Battle of Athens was about to begin. They had prepared for the possibility that the political machine in charge would refuse to let them win. They armed themselves, walked out of their party headquarters, and waited for night to fall, reportedly “draped in ammunition.” 

For the veterans, the objective was the ballot boxes, so they marched to the local jail, where they were holed up. When they demanded the ballot boxes from the deputies, they were told they’d have to come in and get them. Then Bill White, a Marine who fought in the Pacific, pulled the bolt on his rifle. 

Gunfire erupted as sheriff’s deputies tried to fight them off, but they were fighting battle-hardened veterans of the largest war in history. Citizens ran for cover as small arms, machine gun fire, and even TNT lit up the night for the next six hours. When the sun rose the next day, 20 people were wounded, the deputies had been apprehended, the votes counted, and GI Non-Partisan League candidate Knox Henry was elected the new sheriff.

True to their promise, the GIs of McMinn County restored the lawful democratic functions of their local government.