The Battle of Athens, Tennessee was the culminating point of resistance to a Memphis-based political machine that had run the state of Tennessee for the better part of three decades. It was a totalitarian government -- no less so than the regimes of Hitler, Tojo, and Stalin. The Memphis machine chose who ran for, and won, seats in local and state government from sheriff to governor; determined what businesses would thrive; and usurped the rights and property of citizens who resisted.
When the young men of McMinn County, Tennessee returned from fighting in Europe and in the Pacific, they wanted nothing more than to forget that they had fought to the death with the foreign enemies of the American Republic. They never dreamed that they would have to fight just as fiercely to defend fellow citizens against domestic enemies of America.
When the totalitarian political machine attempted to steal an election from veteran-backed candidates -- just as they had stolen elections for thirty years, the veterans took up arms and defended the rights of their fellow citizens guaranteed by the Constitution. They probably never saw their actions as fulfilling the oath they took when they enlisted, but that's exactly what it was.
The Memphis-machine McMinn county sheriff seized ballot boxes (filled with, it turned out, overwhelming votes for the veterans' slate -- from both parties) and was in the process of altering the vote count when the veterans attacked. He sought, and received, help from neighboring Memphis-machine county sheriffs and the ensuing battle involved several hundred men on each side.
The veterans prevailed. The Constitution prevailed.
When the Colonel was eighteen years old, he raised his right hand and swore a "solemn oath."
"I, Thomas Edward Gregory, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear truth faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God."
By law -- Title 5, U.S. Code 3331 -- that oath is administered to every man or woman who accepts a commission as an officer in the armed forces of the United States. Regardless the duty status (active, reserve, retired) of the person who takes the oath, it has no exceptions nor expiration date -- save death.
The oath of office (law found in Title 10, U.S. Code) taken by men and women who enlist in the armed forces of the United States is a little different:
"I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."
The officer's oath contains but one authority to which a commissioned officer swears allegiance and obedience -- the Constitution. The enlisted oath, in addition to that prime directive, includes the enlistee's submission to the orders of the chain of command that stretches unbroken from the last man in the last rank all the way to the current occupant of the Oval Office. That formal recognition of the chain of command, headed by the senior-most sworn defender of the Constitution, is the bedrock on which rests the discipline and effectiveness of the most capable military in history.
The unwritten presumption in the phrase, "...I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me..." is that orders from the President and officers down the chain of command are indeed Constitutional. The phrase "...according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice" provides the lens through which orders are to be evaluated for their Constitutionality.
The Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) is the legal -- Constitutional -- framework for military conduct. It is an enormous tome, containing every imaginable transgression against the Constitution, the laws of the land, and the chain of command. The UCMJ establishes the authority by which the chain of command orders and executes every aspect of military conduct. Without the UCMJ, and a strict adherence thereto, there can be no assurance that the most fearsome military beast the world has ever seen will remain chained in good order and discipline and prepared to fight the nation's enemies.
But, most importantly, without the UCMJ there can be no assurance that the most fearsome military beast the world has ever seen will not be turned on the very citizens whose Constitution guarantees the protections of their natural rights against those who would use the machinations and tools of government to usurp, restrict, or infringe their rights.
Today, there are 1.2 million men and women serving on active duty in the United States Military. Another roughly 860,000 serve in the Guard and Reserve. A two million man army protecting the freedom of 330 million Americans.
That force is focused externally; on threats to our security from outside our territorial boundaries. Without a Presidential emergency declaration, the U.S. military is forbidden, by law, from exercising law enforcement functions outside of its federal jurisdictions (bases, posts, forts, and stations).
Veterans, men and women no longer in the active duty or reserve components of the U.S. military, number approximately 21 million.
That makes twenty-three million American men and women whose most important promise of their lives -- one without an expiration date -- is the support and defense of the Constitution of the United States, and all of the enumerated and un-enumerated rights guaranteed therein.
Supporting and defending the Constitution of the United States "against all enemies foreign and domestic" seems quite abstract at first consideration. It has a nice officious and patriotic ring to it. For those who spent two or three decades in uniform it trips off the tongue, memorized from hundreds (if not thousands) of reaffirmations, witnesses, and administrations.
What does the concept, "supporting and defending," entail, in practice? What is a veteran's continuing responsibility?
The Colonel submits for your consideration that, for a veteran, supporting the Constitution means far more than lip service or the posting of a glib social media meme.
To swear by your own life to "support" the Constitution, first requires you to know the Constitution.
To know that it provides the most balanced and individual liberty-protecting form of government ever devised by man.
To know that our Constitution tempers the inherent dangers of democratic mob rule by combining democracy's cherished ideal of self-governance with the protections of State diversity and self-determination found in federalism and the inherent bias toward deliberation and compromise found in (little r) republicanism.
To know that the Constitution is indeed a living document. But, not living in the sense that it can be interpreted (mis-interpreted) in whatever way current pandering politicians wish. No, the men who crafted the Constitution knew that it was not perfect and so included mechanisms for updating it through the amendment process. And, that process is purposely laborious to protect the minority against the capricious whims of a majority.
Supporting the Constitution requires recognition that maintaining the balance of self-governance, States' rights, and the rule of law is not easy. Those who would make governing easy by short-cutting the processes enshrined in our Constitution -- ruling, at any level of government, by feelings and fiat -- do not support the Constitution. It may seem utilitarian to disregard the will of the people expressed by their vote; making governing decisions by virtue-signalling because that's what feels right for the people. But, that is not just unconstitutional -- it is anti-constitutional and anti-American.
So, the Colonel challenges all of his fellow veterans to remember their oath and to place their solemn promise to support and defend the Constitution above all other considerations.
Place the Constitution above political party affiliation. Avoid the intellectual vacuousness of party platform platitudes and inter-party fractiousness.
Place the Constitution above favored politicians. Remember that they are no less responsible to the rule of Constitutional law than any other citizen.
Place the Constitution above personal feelings and privately held positions on current social issues. The Constitution guarantees citizens' God-given "natural" rights to free association, speech, and property... for ALL citizens.
Fellow veterans, remember your oath. You are the last line of defense. On you once rested the defense of our nation. On you now rests the future of our Republic.
