Buford T Pusser

[Dustbuster]

Don't forget this legendary hero. Had to stop and take this and share.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/kepng92l81ezcoj/Photo%20Aug%2017%2C%201%2004%2034%20PM.jpg

[1madss]

I drove through there last weekend on the way to Selmer. Drove quite a ways on Buford T Pusser Highway :)

 

Lots of flea markets down that way also.

[klamb5]

Take time to go to his Home his family has tour of his house and will talk of him. Think when I went it was his sister or niece who was there. Edited August 18, 2013 by klamb5

[Spiffy]

Joe Don Baker > The Rock  

[1madss]

I was shocked talking to a couple of my co-workers last week when I mentioned Walking Tall and Buford Pusser. They had no clue what I was talking about but mentioned "that movie with the Rock?" :yuck:

 

They are 10 -15 years younger than I, but they are both from TN. They both went on the Fail Board that day.

[frankmako]

kids these days don't know nothing.  

[Cherokee Slim]

It's been a while.

 

[URL=http://s127.photobucket.com/user/Cherokee_Slim/media/Ax1.jpg.html][/URL]

[midtennchip]

I grew up in McNairy County and still have a lot of family there.  I went to school with Buford's granddaughter and was told about Buford many times as a kid.  If I am not mistaken, my mother even signed Buford's death certificate (she worked at the hospital back then).  The story in the movie is FAR from accurate.  But, the real story is just as amazing.  A pretty good read if you are interested:

 

http://www.amazon.com/The-State-Line-Mob-Intrigue/dp/1558538615

 

Just a little background here:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Line_Mob

[Cherokee Slim]

Then you might remember "The Yankee"

[Guest ochretoe]

His brother John and nephew Carl Ran the restaurant at Chickasaw State Park when I worked there.  At closing time we would all eat leftover frog legs and hush puppies and they would tell me some great stories about him.  He was crooked cop who ended up doing a lot of good in spite of himself.  He died a hero and a good cop.

[Dolomite_supafly]

kids these days don't know nothing.  

 

Thanks for complimenting all those kids, it will probably go straight to their heads.

 

After all, according to what you just said they do actually know something.

[Spiffy]

I grew up in McNairy County and still have a lot of family there.  I went to school with Buford's granddaughter and was told about Buford many times as a kid.  If I am not mistaken, my mother even signed Buford's death certificate (she worked at the hospital back then).  The story in the movie is FAR from accurate.  But, the real story is just as amazing.  A pretty good read if you are interested:

 

http://www.amazon.com/The-State-Line-Mob-Intrigue/dp/1558538615

 

Just a little background here:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Line_Mob

 

Well in fairness The Rock's movie just says based on a true story. A Man was beat up and cut and left for dead, he ran for Sheriff, Won and cleaned up the county, That's the very basic drift of both versions.

[midtennchip]

Well in fairness The Rock's movie just says based on a true story. A Man was beat up and cut and left for dead, he ran for Sheriff, Won and cleaned up the county, That's the very basic drift of both versions.

 

I meant the REAL movie from 1973:

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070895/

[vontar]

Here you go.  The original Walking Tall, not the lame remake.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epIr2nQhSxc

[Murgatroy]

His brother John and nephew Carl Ran the restaurant at Chickasaw State Park when I worked there.  At closing time we would all eat leftover frog legs and hush puppies and they would tell me some great stories about him.  He was crooked cop who ended up doing a lot of good in spite of himself.  He died a hero and a good cop.

There are family legends revolving around him. I don't know what the ties were, but he is kin somehow. Or so the stories go. I have family in Finger.

 

The way I have heard it is that the movies and the stories got more of it wrong than they did right, but at the end he was a hero. 

 

But not always.

 

 

 

 

On the upside, I ate at that restaurant thirty years or so ago.

[midtennchip]

McNairy County (TN) and Alcorn County (MS) were a mess in Pusser's time. The stories I have heard from parents, their friends, etc. of what was going on in the area are almost completely unbelievable. Buford stepped on a bunch of toes (not all of which were criminals), but overall has a positive influence. Most complaints about the original movie were that Hollywood made a lot of stuff up that, at the end of the day, wasn't even as interesting as what really happened (at least according to the local legends). Buford just had many run-ins with all kinds of people, just ask Jimmy Buffet.