Private Eddie Slovik is the only American military serviceman
executed for desertion (during World War II) since the American
Civil War.
In August of 1944, as he and a companion were on the way to the
front lines, they became lost in the chaos of battle and stumbled
upon a Canadian unit that took them in.
When he returned to his unit in October, he signed a confession
of desertion, claiming he would run away again if forced to fight,
and submitted it to an officer of the 28th. The officer advised
Slovik to take the confession back, as the consequences were
serious. Slovik refused and was confined to the stockade.
A legal officer of the 28th offered Slovik a deal: dive into combat immediately and avoid the court-martial. Slovik refused. He was
tried on November 11 for desertion and was convicted in less
than two hours. The nine-officer court-martial panel passed a
unanimous sentence of execution, “to be shot to death with
musketry.”
Eisenhower upheld the death sentence and Slovik was shot and
killed by a 12-man firing squad in eastern France.
Wedding photo, 1942.
The Execution of Private Slovik is a made-
for-TV movie starring Martin Sheen, it
premiered March 13, 1974 on NBC.
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