1968, 1978 and 2020: National Guard looms large in city’s history
National Guard troops are part of the indelible imagery of the 1968 sanitation workers strike including exhibits at the National Civil Rights Museum. (Bill Dries/Daily Memphian)
The Guard’s presence in Memphis before, during and after Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1968 assassination at the Lorraine Motel is part of an iconic and traumatic moment for the city.
The guard returned to Memphis in 1978 in two deployments. The first was during the Fourth of July weekend, when Memphis firefighters went on strike for three days.
The response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the state began with Gov. Bill Lee deploying 400 guard members to conduct what was described in April 2020 as “surge” missions across Tennessee. That came to include working at drive-thru testing, and later vaccination, sites at Memphis’ Liberty Park as part of a COVID-19 “Unified Command.”
During the 2020 Memorial Day weekend, Gov. Bill Lee also mobilized the National Guard across the state following the death of George Floyd and a wave of protests across the country.
This is an excerpt of this story. To read more, please click here and subscribe.
Topics
National Guard deployment MLK assassination 1968 Sanitation Strike Dr. Russell Wigginton Willie Simon Subscriber OnlyAre you enjoying your subscription?
Your subscription gives you unlimited access to all of The Daily Memphian’s news, written by nearly 40 local journalists and more than 20 regular freelancers. We work around the clock to cover the issues that impact your life and our community.
You can help us reach more Memphians.
As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, we provide free news access at K-12 schools, public libraries and many community organizations. We also reach tens of thousands of people through our podcasts, and through our radio and television partnerships – all completely free to everyone who cares about Memphis.
When you subscribe, you get full access to our news. But when you donate, you help us reach all Memphians.
Pay it forward. Make a fully tax-deductible donation to The Daily Memphian today.
Thank you for reading the local news. Thank you for investing in our community.
Bill Dries on demand
Never miss an article. Sign up to receive Bill Dries' stories as they’re published.
Enter your e-mail address
Bill Dries
Bill Dries covers city and county government and politics. He is a native Memphian and has been a reporter for almost 50 years covering a wide variety of stories from the 1977 death of Elvis Presley and the 1978 police and fire strikes to numerous political campaigns, every county mayor and every Memphis Mayor starting with Wyeth Chandler.
Want to comment on our stories or respond to others? Join the conversation by subscribing now. Only paid subscribers can add their thoughts or upvote/downvote comments. Our commenting policy can be viewed here.