I was born and raised in Georgia. I attended the University of Tennessee — the Volunteers — and now reside in Texas, where I finished my military career. I can tell you that there is a ruggedness in the Lone Star State that can be traced back to names like Sam Houston, Davy Crockett, Mirabeau Lamar, Thomas Jefferson Rusk, James Fanin, William Barret Travis, and Jim Bowie. This is the state that was first its own Republic and fought for its independence all alone. Rough men stood on a field and dared the vaunted Mexican cavalry to “Come and Take...