Jack of Harts

The Tarrant County Sheriff needed a larger posse during the Second Great Depression, so he called on the Marines in his county. The law and Constitution did not specifically say they could not be peace officers, but the Cowboys were a fighter squadron, not a ground combat unit. Yes, technically, “every Marine is a rifleman,” but some riflemen are better than other riflemen. And a posse did not necessarily need riflemen at all. The sheriff wanted military police on his side, so when the local Army military police battalion decided they all harbored a secret desire to be Marines, he was there to swear each of them in. And then he ordered them to go out and do posse business protecting the county.