Talking Points: Run, Forrest; Foster, run! Straight to Miley World!

• Tennessee is the Volunteer state because Tennesseans are 1,000 times braver than people from other states. During the War of 1812, a Tennessean named Andrew Jackson volunteered himself and his troops to defend the city of New Orleans from British troops; in a battle that didnt even matter! The war had been over for several days! Just imagine if Hurricane Katrina had tried to take on Jackson?
• Thousands of Tennesseans fought in the Revolutionary War and Tennessee wasn't even a state or a colony!

-During the Mexican-American war, President James K. Polk (a Tennessean) needed 3,000 men to volunteer to fight. 30,000 Tennesseans stepped up to fight and crushed Mexico. In fact, Mexico was beaten so badly they gave the United States: California, Nevada, Utah and parts of Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Wyoming. Just imagine if Tennessee was responsible for boarder control? The United States would be annexing Cancun and Mexico City in the next three weeks!

-We invented Rock and Roll.

- During World War I, Alvin York killed 32 Germans and captured 132 others, ALL BY HIMSELF!

-More Famous Tennesseans:

Eddy Arnold singer, Henderson
Chet Atkins guitarist, Lutrell
Hattie Caraway first elected woman senator, Bakerville
Davy Crockett frontiersman, Green City
Jack Curtis screenwriter, Stony Creek
David G. Farragut first American admiral, Knoxville
Lester Flatt bluegrass musician, Overton Cty
Tennessee Ernie Ford singer, Bristol
Morgan Freeman actor, Memphis
Abe Fortas jurist, Memphis
Aretha Franklin singer, Memphis
Nikki Giovanni poet, Knoxville
Albert Gore Jr. U.S. vice president, Washington, D.C.
Isaac Hayes composer, Covington
Benjamin L. Hooks civil rights activist, Memphis
Cordell Hull secretary of state, Overton Cty  
Dolly Parton singer, Sevierville
Minnie Pearl singer, comedienne, Centerville
Elvis Aaron Presley singer/King of Rock and Roll (born in Mississippi, but they are too scared to claim him, knowing that Tennessee could invade at any moment), Memphis
Grantland Rice sportswriter, Murfreesboro
Carl Rowan journalist, Ravenscraft
Wilma Rudolph runner, St. Bethlehem
Sequoia Cherokee scholar, educator
Cybil Shepherd actress, Memphis
Dinah Shore actress, singer, Winchester
Pat Summitt winningest basketball coach ever, Clarksville
Tina Turner singer, Brownsville
Reggie White professional football player, Chattanooga
Al Wilson professional football player/ folk hero, Jessie Palmer's daddy! Jackson
Alvin York World War I hero, Pall Mall

(I am sure there a many more, but this is getting long)

-Tennessee became the thirty-sixth and clinching state to ratify the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which allowed women the right to vote.

-During Japans attack on Pearl Harbor, the USS Tennessee was sunk. The US government realized that a massive weapon was needed to even the score. The Germans, still feeling the affects of one Tennessean, knew better than to send spies to Tennessee. The government was aware of this, and began production of the atomic bomb in Oak Ridge. When word spread about what was going on, Germany quickly surrendered. Japan, not taking the hint, found out, twice, what happens when you mess with Tennessee.

-We have a football stadium that is so large; on game days it becomes the fifth largest city in the state!