Eighty years ago in southeast Tennessee, GIs returning from fighting fascists in WWII organize and arm themselves to confront rampant political corruption, predatory policing and election rigging.

August 1 is election day in McMinn County. A patrolman shoots an elderly black farmer for attempting to cast a ballot. When the sheriff orders the polling place closed, members of the corrupt government abscond to a jailhouse with three ballot boxes. GIs open fire on the building and throw dynamite. They break into the jail and secure the ballot boxes.

Violent conflicts also break out in neighboring counties.

GI-backed candidates win many local elections, but the results of the insurgency are mixed. "We abolished one machine only to replace it with another and more powerful one in the making."