Each week, America History tvs real america rings he archival films that provide context for todays Public Affairs issues. Ive just had my say in the government of our country, my own private say. And if you, or the policeman over there, or the president of the United States asks me how i voted, i can say thats none of your business. As an american, i have that right. Every one of these people has that right. You have it. And its something special. Americans have a heritage of the vote no other nation on earth can match because in the modern world, we were the first, the first to build a working system of government on foundation of the vote. Websters dictionary says vote the right to exercise a wish, choice, or expression of will. here in berlin, one of these men is about to vote in about the only effective way he can, with his feet. Thousands and tens of thousands have made the dash to freedom from behind the iron curtain and a phrase came into being, they were voting with their feet. Then in berlin came the wall. As elsewhere, the communists had to do something. Too many people wanted out. And despite the wall, men and women would still risk prison or death. It is well not to underestimate how deeply runs the need of human beings for freedom of choice. Freedom of choice is the essence of voting. A polling place in which only one answer is acceptable is no polling place. Of course, when you give each man a free choice, you run the risk of wide disagreement. Fine. Harry emerson crosby said it well. Liberty is always dangerous but its the safest thing we have. The vote itself is nothing recent in mans history. The first ballots known were used in the popular courts of ancient athens. The juries used balls like these to register their votes. White for innocent, black for guilt. From these came our word ballot, which means literally little ball. No, voting is nothing new but not until the 18th century in the american colonies did the vote become the Actual Foundation of a governmental system. This was something new in the world. And it was not easily done. With us, the secret ballot became the rule. This way, the voter couldnt be intimidated before the voting or punished afterwards. Power groups looked for ways to get around it. For example, a man might be ordered to write his name or put an identifying mark on his ballot so his vote could be checked. So a law was passed any ballot so marked would not be counted. Or a voter might be told to take a friend with him to the polls to help them with the paperwork. And again, to make sure of his vote. So another law was passed. No one is allowed in the polling place but Election Officials and individual voters. Private voting booths naturally followed, and so it went. Over the years, we made the system work. But there were a lot of kinks to be ironed out along the way. For example, what about citizens in uniform . Before the civil war, most wouldnt let soldiers vote at states wouldnt let soldiers vote at all. They were afraid of military control of elections in communities near large army installations. The few who could vote had to do it in person or not at all. There was no absentee balloting. During the civil war, some union states set up ways for men away from home to vote. Some arranged for voting in the field. Others allowed men to mail votes home for a friend or relative to take to the polls for them. All this, however, was strictly temporary. By the time world war i came, many states had set up absentee voting systems. And in 1917, with most troops in still in the states, the military votes were substantial, if not truly impressive. But in 1918, with two million men overseas and no provision for voting outside the United States, the military vote was virtually nonexistent. Clearly, these men had the right to vote, but there was just no provision for it. When world war ii came, the problem to be tackled all over again. Congress passed the federal voting law to allow Service People away from home in time of war to vote. Now, those overseas could vote for senate, house, and president ial candidates. In 1944, some 2. 5 million voted overseas. It was somewhat complicated to get the ballots through the mail and send them back to the United States again. Still, if you really wanted to, there was a way. During the korean war, it was made easier for a serviceman to cast his vote, and he was encouraged to do so. But this was still a special combat zone provision. And like all those before it, a temporary one. So, in 1955, it was the major step forward when the federal Voting Assistance act became law, providing the mechanism for absentee voting anytime, anywhere, war or peace, on a permanent basis. This law provided for getting election information to the serviceman and helping him to obtain an absentee ballot. It also recommended to every state that it adopt a simple and uniform voting procedure to make the whole process less complicated. The fpca, federal postal card application, became the key to the program. And today, every state accepts it as a valid application as an absentee ballot from service personnel. Today, casting your vote from any spot on earth is an easy matter. No matter how you look at it, from your viewpoint as a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine, the steps you take are simple. Your voting officer will see to it that you get an application card, together with the voting information you need for your voting district. You fill out the fpca and drop it in the mail, no need for a stamp. It goes by free air mail right to your voting district back home. They will send you an absentee ballot back, again, by airmail. You have it with a minimum of delay. The rest is up to you. And rightly so. Your vote for whatever candidate for whatever reasons is your business and no one elses. Finally, your ballot goes back home by air and into the voting total, along with the votes of your neighbors. And wherever you are, you have the means of making sure that your vote is an informed vote of following the issues, the candidates, the platforms as the campaign gets underway. If youre ever tempted to wonder if your single vote means anything, just remember that every vote is counted and everyone counts. A single vote can swing an election. Dont underestimate it. This is something no amount of money can buy for you if you dont have it. Its just a piece of paper, but it represents your basic right s as a citizen. More than 130 years ago, a man named William Corbitt hit it on the head when he said, the great right of all, without which there is in fact no right, is the right of taking part in the making of the laws by which we are governed. Important aspects of your life in uniform are directly regulated by congress. Pay rate. Allowances, benefits, term of service and so on. But congress is also directly regulated by you as citizens. This is the means by which you can have your say. Wherever the needs of the nation demand it around the world, you are on duty. Dramatic duty sometimes, not so dramatic most times, but always important. Necessary to the overall purpose, the same purpose it has always been to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. Who more than you, who in this moment of history, are providing the defense of the nation, who more than you should use a free voice which you are helping to ensure . That free voice is the vote. American history tv is on cspan3 every weekend, featuring museum tours, archival films, college lectures, and discussions on the presidency, the civil war, and more. You can watch these in their entirety on our website, cspan. Org history. Heres a quick look at one of our programs. Good morning. Im one ofal, and the volunteers here at the Army Heritage and Education Center in carlisle. Were going to talk a little bit today about the american m4 medium tank. Its probably one of the most prolific tanks of the second world war. This particular example was one of the earlier versions. This is the m4a3 tank. This one is armed with a main gun. And if we move to the commanders weapon station here, its also got the caliber 50 machine gun up top, where the commander is. And it also has two and 19 1930 caliber machine guns. One of those is mounted collection will with the gun, and the other is mounted here, up in the front of the tank. And this one is manned by the battle hunter. And if you look at the bow gun, he can move that up and down. You can show you how that ball curve works. The sherman series, there were of these tanks manufactured during the civil war. The only production of these tanks, this series of tank was used by everyone in the nation, allied nations during the second world war, to include england, the soviet union, and even the nationalist chinese were seeing tanks as a result of this program. So it really was a vehicle that had a strategic effect on the war just because of the numbers of those were out there and the number of allied nations that use them. This tank was infamously reliable. Actually had an operational readiness rate of about 94 . In other words, it was ready 94 of the time. As compared to some of the german tanks, which operational readiness rate was usually hovered around 5062 . For us, its really a labor of love to keep the history of these things alive. About the the public experiences of soldiers that served on them, and to get the opportunity to come out and be on them again is really very special for us. Thats really the motivation. But most importantly, to convey the stories of soldiers who served on these tanks and keep the history of the warfare of the u. S. Army plugged. Through the mud and the sands of a dozen foreign lands, u. S. Tankers are fighting abroad men in iron take the bomb and a million god and thumbs but the tanks keep us fighting on to victory let the enemy feel our minds we are on the way to victory for the tankers are first in the mines that was a short look at one of our many programs available on our website. Were at cspan. Org history. American history tv, exploring our nations past every weekend on cspan3. Up next on american artifacts, we travel to northeastern france to trace the steps of american soldiers during the spring and early summer of 1918. But first, a portion of a 1960 u. S. Army film that describes the military situation at the time. The germans rolled across the river, in a driving, relentless force, which struck panic into the french nation. In three days, the german tide had reached the river and was less than 40 miles from paris. Pershing moved the second and d
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