Some communities are lucky enough to have someone who refuses to let their history disappear. In Smith County, Tennessee, that person is Tressa Bush.
Bush is an award-winning journalist, Smith County Commissioner, and the founder of the Smith County Historical Tourism Society, a nonprofit she built from the ground up to preserve one of the most significant and underknown chapters of World War II history. Every year, she and her team put on a free community event that draws visitors from across the country, fills downtown Carthage with living history, and gives families something genuinely meaningful to experience together.
This is the story of what she built, why it matters, and how a small nonprofit in Middle Tennessee is doing something remarkable for its community.
Who Is Tressa Bush?
Tressa Bush grew up in Chestnut Mound, Tennessee. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Mass Communications with an emphasis in Broadcast Journalism from Middle Tennessee State University and spent years building a career in television news across the state.
Her broadcasting career took her to WBBJ-TV 7 in Jackson as a morning anchor and general assignment reporter. From there she moved to WCBI-TV 4 in Columbus, Mississippi, as a weekend anchor. She eventually returned to Tennessee, reporting and anchoring at WATE-TV 6 in Knoxville and WCTB-TV 5 in the Tri-Cities.
Her goal was always to return to Middle Tennessee. She made that happen, eventually freelancing for three major Nashville stations: WTVF-TV 5, WSMV-TV 4, and FOX 17. Along the way, she won two Tennessee State Press Awards for feature writing at the Carthage Courier.
She has worked as content manager and live broadcast producer at Wilson County Television, where she created original programming including Walking Through Wilson and Talkin’ With Tatum. She ran her own media production company, Misspelled Productions and Media, providing video production, photography, and editing to businesses and organizations across the region. She served in a communications role at the Wilson County Convention and Visitors’ Bureau. And since January 2026, she has served as a Public Information Officer with the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security.
She is also a sitting Smith County Commissioner, giving her a direct role in the governance and development of the community she has spent her career serving.
All of that is impressive on its own. But the work she has done through her nonprofit is what makes her story especially worth telling.
The Smith County Historical Tourism Society
Tressa Bush founded the Smith County Historical Tourism Society to preserve and promote the story of the Tennessee Maneuvers, a massive World War II training operation that played out across Middle Tennessee from 1941 to 1944. The society is a nonprofit organization focused on historical education, community tourism, and keeping the memory of this chapter of American history alive for future generations.
The organization’s work goes beyond putting on events. Under Bush’s leadership, the SCHTS has:
- Hosted five annual Tennessee Maneuvers Remembered living history events, now returning for their sixth year
- Developed an eight-stop self-guided driving tour of key Tennessee Maneuvers locations throughout Smith County
- Worked to install historical markers and informative signage at significant sites around the county
- Produced video interviews with local residents who witnessed the Maneuvers firsthand
- Created educational programs that bring school groups and community organizations into the historical story
Bush has described her motivation in clear terms: “When I get discouraged, I remember the smiles on the faces of all the people I’ve interviewed as they thanked me for allowing them to share their memories of the most historic events to ever take place in Middle Tennessee, the Tennessee Maneuvers.”
That commitment is what keeps the organization going year after year, securing funding, recruiting volunteers, and turning a little-known piece of history into something the entire region can celebrate.
The Tennessee Maneuvers: History Worth Preserving
Most Americans know the broad outline of World War II. D-Day. The Battle of the Bulge. V-E Day. What far fewer people know is what happened on American soil before those battles were ever fought.
When Nazi Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, the United States Army was in no condition to fight a modern war. The regular U.S. Army had fewer than 190,000 personnel. The National Guard had roughly 200,000 part-time soldiers. Together, the American military ranked 17th in the world. That was not a force capable of taking on a professionally trained European army.
In September 1940, the draft began. Military leaders knew they needed to train hundreds of thousands of new soldiers as quickly as possible, and they needed space to do it. They chose Middle Tennessee.
From 1941 to 1944, more than 850,000 American soldiers trained across Tennessee farms, backcountry roads, river crossings, and open fields. The exercises were called the Tennessee Maneuvers, and they were some of the largest military training operations in American history. U.S. military leaders described the purpose plainly: they wanted soldiers to make their mistakes during the maneuvers, not while in actual combat.
It worked. Many of the soldiers who trained across Middle Tennessee went on to fight in North Africa, Europe, and the Pacific. The tactical lessons they learned in Tennessee contributed directly to how the United States military fought the war.
Smith County was part of that story. Local families hosted soldiers, local roads carried military convoys, and local farmland became training terrain. That history belongs to Smith County, and the Smith County Historical Tourism Society is the organization determined to make sure it is not forgotten.
Tennessee Maneuvers Remembered 2026: What to Expect
On Saturday, May 2, 2026, downtown Carthage steps back in time.
The Smith County Historical Tourism Society hosts the sixth annual Tennessee Maneuvers Remembered on the lawn and surrounding streets of the Historic Smith County Courthouse. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is completely free and open to the public.
Visitors can expect a full day of programming, including:
- A battle reenactment featuring WWII-era soldiers, tactics, and equipment
- Military vehicle rides and static displays of authentic WWII vehicles
- Aircraft flyovers
- Live entertainment
- Hands-on historical displays for families and children
- Homefront Kitchen and Victory Garden demonstrations representing the civilian side of the war effort
- 4-H Club participation, engaging young people directly in the history
- Expert speakers and historians
- Opportunities to meet and speak with reenactors in period-accurate uniforms and gear
The event opens with a flag-raising ceremony at 9:45 a.m. to set the tone for the day. Admission is free. Organizers encourage visitors to register through the official Eventbrite page to receive updates and any schedule changes ahead of time.
This is the sixth time the event has taken place. Each year, it has grown. Visitors now come from across the region and from other states, drawn by the quality of the reenactments and the depth of the historical programming. What began as a local effort to preserve community memory has become a regional destination event.
Why This Event Matters for the Community
Free, family-oriented community events that draw visitors from outside the region are genuinely valuable. They do not happen by accident. They require months of planning, fundraising, volunteer coordination, and the kind of persistent leadership that Tressa Bush has demonstrated year after year.
The economic impact of an event like Tennessee Maneuvers Remembered extends beyond the day itself. Visitors traveling to Carthage for the event spend money at local restaurants, gas stations, and shops. The event raises the profile of Smith County as a destination for historical tourism. Over time, that visibility attracts more visitors, supports local businesses, and builds the kind of community identity that draws people to a place year after year.
Beyond economics, the educational value is real. Many of the children who attend will be encountering this piece of history for the first time. The reenactors, the vehicles, the demonstrations, and the speakers bring a chapter of American history out of textbooks and into lived experience. That is harder to quantify than a hotel booking or a restaurant receipt, but it matters just as much.
The education and community investment side of nonprofit work like this is often underappreciated. It takes a specific kind of leadership to build something from nothing, sustain it over six years, and keep growing it without losing the original vision. Bush has done exactly that.
As North Penn Now reported in April 2026, the event aims to change the fact that while many people know about D-Day and the battles fought overseas, fewer know that Middle Tennessee played a key role in getting U.S. soldiers ready for war. This event brings that history back into focus, right where it belongs.
The Broader Impact of Bush’s Work
Tressa Bush’s nonprofit leadership does not exist in isolation. It is part of a broader pattern of community investment that runs through her entire career.
As a journalist, she spent years telling the stories that mattered to people in Tennessee communities, finding the human angle in local events and giving those stories the attention they deserved. As a media producer, she helped local governments and organizations communicate with their constituents more effectively. As Wilson County Convention and Visitors’ Bureau staff, she developed promotional content that drove tourism and economic activity. As a Smith County Commissioner, she participates directly in the decisions that shape her county’s future.
The nonprofit is where all of those threads come together. Historical preservation is not just about the past. It is about giving communities something to be proud of, a shared identity that connects residents to each other and draws visitors in. Done well, it supports local economies, strengthens civic identity, and creates the kind of community that people want to live in and return to.
The community builders who drive real local economic development often work in exactly this space: events, tourism, historical identity, and civic engagement. Bush is a textbook example of how that kind of leadership compounds over time.
How to Get Involved
Tennessee Maneuvers Remembered 2026 welcomes community participation at every level.
- Attend the event: Saturday, May 2, 2026, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Historic Smith County Courthouse in Carthage, TN. Free admission.
- Register for updates: Sign up at Eventbrite to receive event updates and schedule changes.
- Participate in the battle: Reenactors are welcome to sign up through the official channels.
- Display at the courthouse grounds: Vendors and historical displayers can contact Tressa Bush directly at tressabush@live.com.
- 4-H and school groups: The SCHTS actively welcomes youth organization participation, including opportunities to staff the Homefront Kitchen and Victory Garden.
- Support the nonprofit: The Smith County Historical Tourism Society runs on volunteer effort and donated resources. Following their work and sharing the event with others makes a real difference.
Learn more about Tressa Bush’s work at tressabush.net and about the nonprofit at smithcountyhistoricaltourism.org.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Tennessee Maneuvers Remembered?
Tennessee Maneuvers Remembered is a free annual living history event in Carthage, Tennessee, hosted by the Smith County Historical Tourism Society. It commemorates the massive WWII training exercises that took place across Middle Tennessee from 1941 to 1944. The 2026 event is the sixth annual edition and runs May 2 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Historic Smith County Courthouse.
Who organizes the event?
The event is organized by the Smith County Historical Tourism Society, a nonprofit founded and led by Tressa Bush, an award-winning journalist and Smith County Commissioner based in Chestnut Mound, Tennessee.
Is Tennessee Maneuvers Remembered free?
Yes. The event is completely free and open to the public. Organizers encourage visitors to register through Eventbrite for updates, but no ticket or payment is required to attend.
What are the Tennessee Maneuvers?
The Tennessee Maneuvers were large-scale U.S. Army field training exercises conducted across Middle Tennessee from 1941 to 1944. More than 850,000 soldiers trained in the region, using local farms, roads, and fields to prepare for combat. Many of those soldiers went on to fight in North Africa, Europe, and the Pacific during World War II.
What activities does the event include?
The event features a live battle reenactment, military vehicle rides and displays, aircraft flyovers, live entertainment, historical expert speakers, hands-on displays for families, a Homefront Kitchen, a Victory Garden, and 4-H participation opportunities.
How can I participate as a reenactor or displayer?
Reenactors can sign up through the official event page. Those interested in displaying on the courthouse grounds can contact Tressa Bush directly at tressabush@live.com.
What other projects does the Smith County Historical Tourism Society work on?
Beyond the annual event, the SCHTS has developed an eight-stop self-guided driving tour of key Tennessee Maneuvers locations in Smith County, is working to install historical markers at significant sites, and has produced video interviews with local residents who witnessed the Maneuvers firsthand.