1945: Private Eddie Slovik, the last American shot for desertion
January 31st, 2009 dogboy
On January 31, 1945, Private Edward Donald “Eddie” Slovik became a curious outlier of World War II: he was executed by firing squad by the U.S. Army for desertion. He is the only person to have been so punished for that crime since the Civil War.
Pvt Slovik was, by all accounts, quiet and helpful, by no means a coward, and more than willing to aid in the effort of World War II, traits which would have put him among a large class of that war’s veterans. Unfortunately, he was also immobilized by shelling. Equally unfortunately, he knew it, and he decided to do something about it.
Slovik and a friend, Pvt John F. Tankey, first separated from their detachment under artillery fire in late August 1944, shortly after being shipped to France. The pair hooked up with a Canadian unit and spent six weeks pitching in. Having recused themselves from the hard shelling others were experiencing on the front line, they opted to rejoin their regular U.S. unit: Slovik and Tankey sent a letter to their commanding officer explaining their absence and returned on Oct. 7.
But the front lines were not a place for Pvt Slovik.
After his assignment to the rifle unit, which would face imminent danger during shelling, Slovik asked to be placed in the rear guard, indicating he was too scared to remain in front. His request was refused. He then reportedly asked whether leaving the unit again would be considered desertion, was told it would be, and opted for the seemingly safer route of, well, deserting. One day later, Slovik was back at a U.S. camp, this time turning himself in to the camp cook. He had drafted a letter explaining his actions and indicating that he knowingly deserted, permanently recording his guilt on paper.
It’s not clear whether Pvt Slovik was acting on principles or out of an understanding of the U.S. military judicial system. He was by no means the only soldier without affinity for the conditions of war, particularly on the allied side. During the war, thousands of soldiers were tried and convicted in military courts for desertion, but up to then, all had received only time in the brig. What is clear is that Slovik was repeatedly offered opportunities to return to the line, and he equally repeatedly refused.
The case was adjudicated on Nov 11 by nine staff officers of the 28th Division, none of whom had yet been in battle. One of those judges, Benedict B. Kimmelman, wrote a stark and intriguing account of his role in the story of Pvt Slovik, capturing the scene thusly:
Five witnesses were heard. The cross-examinations were perfunctory. The defense made no closing argument. The court recessed for ten minutes, resumed, and retired almost immediately afterward. Three ballots were taken in closed court, the verdicts unanimously guilty on all counts. In open court once more, the president announced the verdict and the sentence: to be dishonorably discharged, to forfeit all pay and allowances due, and to be shot to death with musketry. The trial had begun at 10:00 A.M.; it was over at 11:40 A.M.
As with all court martial cases, Slovik’s was sent to a judge advocate for review. His criminal record, including everything from destruction of property to public intoxication to embezzlement, did not endear him to the reviewer. More importantly, though, the advocate felt Slovik could be made an example:
He has directly challenged the authority of the government, and future discipline depends upon a resolute reply to this challenge. If the death penalty is ever to be imposed for desertion, it should be imposed in this case, not as a punitive measure nor as retribution, but to maintain that discipline upon which alone an army can succeed against the enemy.
Strangely, Pvt Slovik was the only person who would be exemplified this way.
Though the military tried 21,000 desertion cases and passed down 49 death sentences for desertion during the war, it carried out only Slovik’s. And in the war’s final battles, with Germany collapsing, his execution seemed like a surreal throwback. As Kimmelman notes, hundreds if not thousands of soldiers were strictly guilty of dereliction of duty and desertion in the waning days of 1944.
They’re not shooting me for deserting the United Stated Army — thousands of guys have done that. They’re shooting me for bread I stole when I was 12 years old. (Source)
Three weeks after his conviction and three weeks before the Battle of the Bulge, Slovik’s execution order was confirmed by the 28th Division’s commander, Major General Norman “Dutch” Cota. Cota was disturbed by Slovik’s forthrightness in confessing to the desertion, and, as a front line commander who had sustained severe casualty rates in the Battle of Hurtgen Forest, had no sympathy for the crime.
After an appeal to the deaf ears of Dwight Eisenhower shortly before the sentence was to be carried out, Slovik was out of options. He was taken to the courtyard of an estate near the village of Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines and shot by 11 Army marksmen* at 10 a.m. By 10:04, as they were reloading, he was declared dead. His body was interred at a French cemetery, and after decades of lobbying the U.S. government, his remains were returned to Michigan in 1987.
Because he was dishonorably discharged, Slovik was not entitled to a pension, and his wife, Antoinette, stopped receiving payments. Curiously, though the Army managed to communicate this to her, they omitted the bit about the execution. She found out in 1953 from William Bradford Huie.
Huie was a journalist who took immediate interest in Slovik’s story, popularizing it with his book The Execution of Private Slovik, which was released in 1954. Twenty years later, the book and title were requisitioned for a well-received TV movie starring Martin Sheen and funded by Frank Sinatra.
* The firing squad included 12 marksmen, but one was given a blank. Despite their skill, the 11 remaining shooters did not manage to kill him instantaneously.
Also On This Date
Possibly Related Executions
- 1944: Georges Suarez, collaborationist editor
- 1914: A French soldier, “yours also is a way of dying for France”
- 1916: Private Billy Nelson
Entry Filed under: 20th Century, Botched Executions, Capital Punishment, Death Penalty, Desertion, Diminished Capacity, Execution, France, Guest Writers, History, Milestones, Military Crimes, Other Voices, Shot, Soldiers, U.S. Military, USA, Wartime Executions
Tags: 1940s, 1945, battle of hurtgen forest, battle of the bulge, dwight eisenhower, eddie slovik, january 31, sainte-marie-aux-mines, the execution of private slovik, william bradford huie, world war ii
April 24th, 2010 at 3:04 pm
I gotta say these heavy handed emotional posts like John Howards are creepy as hell. He didn’t take part in one battle but he opted to even return to his unit. He wasn’t given many “ample” chances, he was given one. There is no excuse for executing deserters- that should be a prisonable offense in most circumstances-in the final months of a war when the outcome is virtually certain. This was AWOL, plain and simple. If he was given another chance to go to the front and refused, or left the army altogether, then you might be able to argue for execution, but to call him a shitbag or coward is retardation beyond the pale.
April 14th, 2010 at 4:05 pm
I have not read the book, nor seen the movie, but thit is probable that most anyone having anything to do with this situation is probably not with us any longer. There were 11 years between the actual execution and the book, and according to this site, another 20 prior to the movie. I am assuming, to keep stream with Hollywood Historical Fiction that everything in the movie is not historically accurate, how could we know unless someone was there, was Huie there? Has the Military released these records? I agree that Slovik should have been shot, those were the consequences for “desertion” however, he may not have had to go through that if previous “desertion” sentences would have been carried out.
February 24th, 2010 at 3:45 am
make that carrying, not caring,lol
February 23rd, 2010 at 1:11 pm
Pvt. Slovik was given numerous chances to return to “the front”, but chose not to do so. And yet, when he faced death at the firing squad, he did so as a man. So why couldn’t he face death in combat? Very strange indeed.
Anyway, while tragic, the US Army had little choice for someone as obstinate as Slovik. What would we, as a country and as a society, have if we allowed such rampant disobedience in a time of war? You can’t do it!
During the Vietnam war, while I was caring my draft card and watching all the carnage on the news about the war, I had friends who were literally packing their clothes for a move to Canada, so as to avoid said war. But even though they were my friends, I must tell you, I was repulsed and disgusted by their actions. It wasn’t that I was longing to board a helicopter and to be spirited into some hot LZ in the central highlands of Vietnam, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to take a big dump on my country by high-tailing it to a country harboring cowards! It just isn’t my style.
So I apologize that I don’t fall in with the crowd of hand-wringers who believe some great injustice was done to Pvt. Slovik. He had his chance, and he said no. Much better, had he grabbed his weapon, said ‘yes sir’, and marched forth to whatever was awaiting him. There is far more honor in doing it this way.
February 23rd, 2010 at 7:55 am
Pvt. Slovik’s case is both infuriating and heartbreaking. I learned about him in the 50’s as a youngster and would overhear my parents discuss him with great sympathy and anger towards the Army (the same branch my father served in). I read “The Execution of Private Slovik” and saw the TV rendition of the story. For many years I’ve tried to find acceptance, for myself, of this dark and tragic piece of American history. Perhaps I never will. I simply can’t bring myself to agree with the execution. The boy’s life was taken in order to force others to kill. That’s what it boils down to.
December 22nd, 2009 at 3:10 am
I think nowadays our society places to much emphasize on saving everyone. Every person is somehow redeemable, but the truth is that everyone chooses his own destiny. The man was a damn coward trying to play the system. The system played him and justly so. Millions of other men did the right thing and he could have too…
Pardon him? Hell let’s do him one better and put his face on a coward memorial and shame him until the end of time to discourage any other shitbags from deserting. As for his family have them change their names so that they don’t have to live with the shame of being related to this piece of garbage.
December 17th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
Eddie Slovik was executed because he was unlucky. He was not the only soldier to desert the U.S. army, not even close. Thousands of people did it, the problem that arose in Slovik’s case was his poor timing. He deserted his division not to long after an entire division (10,000 men) surrendered to Germany. Eisenhower did not just execute him for his crime. He executed him to make an example and scare other soldiers that were considering it. If Eisenhower did not do something about all these surrenders/deserters, the Allied forces could have possibly lost the battle all together. So you tell me what would be better to lose, one man, or over 200,000?
December 13th, 2009 at 3:21 am
Well, you have the perfect liberal President in office now, with Barack Hussein Obama, who would probably pardon Eddie. Someone should petition him. He lets terrorists off the hook why not Eddie?
December 5th, 2009 at 6:51 am
from the source above >>>>>>”His criminal record, including everything from destruction of property to public intoxication to embezzlement, did not endear him to the reviewer. More importantly, though, the advocate felt Slovik could be made an example:”
absolutely , he could have been made an example …for INTELLIGENT….and NEW military protocols…..this guy was not capable of withstanding the trials of frontline combat, but was prepared to serve within the support arena …cooking , medical …and so on.So, reassign him , and keep it quiet, anyone who knew him might still benefit from his willingness to participate , but not where his psyche would not allow.
Many soldiers were handicapped by battle fatigue , within a very short time of engagement…bombardment , and shelling***.Slovik was wasted by an unforgiving system, but thankfully , many more men who suffered the same anxiety were spared ( at least by the system).I suppose he could always have attempted self harm …gtd return to the states.
December 5th, 2009 at 6:43 am
THIS HERO said >>>>Jay | September 10th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
He was given ample opportunity to return to his unit, over and over he was offered the chance to return and serve faithfuly, he refused. In time of war I mean real war like WWII, You have to have strict military discipline. You have to have an example. The sentence was just and fair.
AND PRECISELY where have you served …or risked all for your country , for even a day , or the time it takes to hire a DVD , and feel like U’r a hero, or worth something ?
What’s that ? You haven’t had the opportunity ??? well , do what Slovik did , organise your own resources ….do voluntary work , feed the poor….work in a soup kitchen …collect clothing ….be of some use …U armchair EXECUTIONER….