Edward Donald Slovik (above) was a private in the U.S Army during World War ll and the only American soldier to be court-martialled and executed for desertion since the Civil War.

Over 21,000 American soldiers were given varying sentences for desertion during World War II, including 49 death sentences,but Slovik’s was the only death sentence carried out.

Slovik’s execution was the basis for a 1954 book by William Bradford Huie.The book was adapted for a TV movie in 1974 starring Martin Sheen and also called The Execution of Private Slovik.

Christian (Charles Philip) Bale is an English actor who, In addition to starring
in big budget Hollywood  films,  has played in films produced by independent
producers and art houses. Bale first caught the public eye at the age of 13,
when he was cast in the starring role of Steven Spielberg’s 1987 film Empire
of the Sun. He has recently received critical acclaim for his performance in
The Fighter (2010),earning him several awards including the Golden Globe
for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture and a  nomination for the
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Christian Bale as a lost English boy in a Japanese interment
camp during World War ll. 

 
                  Bale as Batman in The Dark Knight (2008)

             
                Psychological thriller,The Machinist (2004)

General Douglas MacArthur  was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during
the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War ll. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the Philippines Campaign. He was one
of only five men ever to rise to the rank of five-star general in the U.S. Army, and the 
only man ever to become a field marshal in the Philippine Army. MacArthur died on 
April 5, 1964 of liver disease. He was 84 years old.

            
          General MacArthur(center)returning to the Philippines as he had promised

Richard “Dick” Winters, the Easy Company commander whose World War ll exploits were made famous by the book and television miniseries “Band of Brothers,” died last week in central Pennsylvania. He was 92.

According to a statement made by a longtime friend, Winters died following a several-year battle with Parkinson’s Disease. (AP)

Frank Sinatra’s appearance in this film was part of a
ten-minute short opposing anti-Semitism and racial
prejudice at the end of World War ll. It received an
honorary Academy Award and a special Golden
Globe Award in 1946.