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Post by Rev. Agave on Jan 31, 2010 15:41:13 GMT -6
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. www.executedtoday.com/2009/01/31/1945-private-eddie-slovik-desertion/
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mike5
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Post by mike5 on Jan 31, 2010 16:24:21 GMT -6
Wow. You've morphed into sdl. I read not too long ago a different and what I believe is a more accurate account of Slovik. He was no martyr -- just a sociopath.
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mike5
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Post by mike5 on Jan 31, 2010 16:39:26 GMT -6
"Two members of the firing squad later summarized what many front-line soldiers thought about the execution of Eddie Slovik. One reportedly declared: "I got no sympathy for the sonofabitch! He deserted us, didn't he? He didn't give a damn how many of us got the hell shot out of us, why should we care for him?" The other soldier said, "I personally figured that Slovik was a no-good, and that what he had done was as bad as murder.""Unfortunately, this isn't the article I was thinking of. goo.gl/Myx1
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Post by Californian on Jan 31, 2010 16:59:37 GMT -6
There's a back story, too. As in many large organizations, the military is quite political. The 28th Division had a large deserter problem, and it was embarrassing Dutch Cota.
Ike was also annoyed; according to "Eisenhower," by Ike's grandson, David, both Ike and Cota thought that the sentence would be commuted by the military court of appeals, and were OK with that.
But when it wasn't, they decided after a long discussion that Slovik had been tried, convicted, and sentenced, and they therefore decided to let the execution go through.
As indicated, Slovik was a small-time felon in civilian life before being drafted. Many men with his kind of record were also called up; the majority performed their duties well.
I think this article is much too forgiving. Had Slovik sucked it up and did his duty, as so many did despite being terrified, he might have survived the war.
I forget who said it, and perhaps it's apocryphal, but there's a saying: "A hero is a coward who stuck it out for five more seconds."
Slovik was no hero. He earned his fate.
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Post by Californian on Jan 31, 2010 17:01:26 GMT -6
He was instantly rendered unconscious, but it took a few minutes for his vitals signs to cease. Absolutely ordinary for deaths by gunshot.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2010 17:25:34 GMT -6
"Two members of the firing squad later summarized what many front-line soldiers thought about the execution of Eddie Slovik. One reportedly declared: "I got no sympathy for the sonofabitch! He deserted us, didn't he? He didn't give a damn how many of us got the hell shot out of us, why should we care for him?" The other soldier said, "I personally figured that Slovik was a no-good, and that what he had done was as bad as murder.""Unfortunately, this isn't the article I was thinking of. goo.gl/Myx1 I think the only issue is that Slovik was the only one executed. Not because of an injustice to him, but there were many other cowards who escaped their due punishment.
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Post by Elric of Melnibone on Jan 31, 2010 17:27:01 GMT -6
A man in the same divison as slovik was awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery.
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mike5
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Post by mike5 on Jan 31, 2010 17:35:18 GMT -6
"Two members of the firing squad later summarized what many front-line soldiers thought about the execution of Eddie Slovik. One reportedly declared: "I got no sympathy for the sonofabitch! He deserted us, didn't he? He didn't give a damn how many of us got the hell shot out of us, why should we care for him?" The other soldier said, "I personally figured that Slovik was a no-good, and that what he had done was as bad as murder.""Unfortunately, this isn't the article I was thinking of. goo.gl/Myx1 I think the only issue is that Slovik was the only one executed. Not because of an injustice to him, but there were many other cowards who escaped their due punishment. No, you idiot, it is not the only issue.
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Post by Californian on Jan 31, 2010 17:36:06 GMT -6
I think the only issue is that Slovik was the only one executed. Not because of an injustice to him, but there were many other cowards who escaped their due punishment. Think of it as a lottery. To play, you have to buy a ticket. Slovik bought his ticket with the lives of his brothers-in-arms.
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Post by Elric of Melnibone on Jan 31, 2010 17:45:37 GMT -6
The military (US) carried out 114 executions in World War 2. Most were for rape or murder. Most were also carried out by hanging.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2010 18:24:59 GMT -6
21000 American Soliders, convicted for desertion. 49 were given death sentences. Only 1 was executed.
The Americans should have either abolished the DP for desertion or applied it more consistently.
49 people were sentenced to death, 21000 were convicted for desertion in WWII. It appears that Slovik was executed to send a message at a point when the War was nearly won.
and 65 years on, Anti DP types are still getting mileage out of it.
You think we would have heard of Eddie Slovik if at least some of the other 49 death sentences for desertion were carried out.
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Post by Californian on Jan 31, 2010 18:54:10 GMT -6
It appears that Slovik was executed to send a message at a point when the War was nearly won. Care to add up American casualties in Europe from the Battle of the Bulge until Germany's surrender? Wars ain't won until the other side quits. How so? Ummm...so what?
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Post by Elric of Melnibone on Jan 31, 2010 18:57:35 GMT -6
Slovik was offered every chance to comply too. He was the one that refused to. The guy with him accepted the chance to go back to his unit.
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Post by ichy on Jan 31, 2010 19:08:55 GMT -6
Slovik was offered every chance to comply too. He was the one that refused to. The guy with him accepted the chance to go back to his unit. They even offered to send him to another regiment where nobody would've heard about his attempt at desertion.
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Post by Californian on Jan 31, 2010 19:23:52 GMT -6
They even offered to send him to another regiment where nobody would've heard about his attempt at desertion. He just didn't wanna be in the army no mo, so, the army arranged that. ;D I'd bet $5 SDL has a stealth logon and is monitoring this thread. Poor snotty Scotty. We're dissing his big hero.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2010 19:40:33 GMT -6
Erick,
You bastard, you made everyone think of SDL
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Post by D.E.E. on Jan 31, 2010 21:34:02 GMT -6
He got what was coming to him, too bad the rest did not also get executed it was what they deserved.
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Post by johnnyrep on Feb 1, 2010 2:44:46 GMT -6
Kill 'em all hey D.E.E..... It's kind of a mantra for you when faced with any difficulties isn't it? Yeah Slovik was drafted......that was after he was first found unfit for service because of his criminal record. Funny how people examined and found unfit for military duty are then later suddenly found fit and shipped off to war. Got to make up the numbers somehow I guess. I suppose a lot of people who were never suitable for service in the first place were shipped off against their will. It must have seemed a little odd to find out that having been found unfit to serve in the military, later you are suddenly found fit, carted off to war and then - when you don't measure up - deemed a coward and shot by the people who railroaded you in to the whole thing in the first place. There's some sort of logic in that I guess. Just think of how many cowards there are in your neighbourhood right now - there must be thousands of them going about their lives and no one knows they're cowards because they've never been drafted and sent off to war. Eat them up and spit them out...boooyahhhhh!!!!!!! Suck it up -
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Post by D.E.E. on Feb 1, 2010 12:59:07 GMT -6
Kill 'em all hey D.E.E..... It's kind of a mantra for you when faced with any difficulties isn't it? Yeah Slovik was drafted......that was after he was first found unfit for service because of his criminal record. Funny how people examined and found unfit for military duty are then later suddenly found fit and shipped off to war. Got to make up the numbers somehow I guess. I suppose a lot of people who were never suitable for service in the first place were shipped off against their will. It must have seemed a little odd to find out that having been found unfit to serve in the military, later you are suddenly found fit, carted off to war and then - when you don't measure up - deemed a coward and shot by the people who railroaded you in to the whole thing in the first place. There's some sort of logic in that I guess. Just think of how many cowards there are in your neighbourhood right now - there must be thousands of them going about their lives and no one knows they're cowards because they've never been drafted and sent off to war. Eat them up and spit them out...boooyahhhhh!!!!!!! Suck it up - Well Kroll, since there are not thousands of people where I live that can not be true, and since most of my neighbors are veterans or either corrections or law enforcement officers we know it is not true. As for kill them all, works for me when they desert in the face of the ememy, of course your family is safe because they never had the courage to face an enemy. They prefered to just go along. No wonder you support cowards.
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Post by D.E.E. on Feb 1, 2010 13:16:24 GMT -6
These your Neighbors Kroll?
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Post by ichy on Feb 1, 2010 16:36:47 GMT -6
Just think of how many cowards there are in your neighbourhood right now - there must be thousands of them going about their lives and no one knows they're cowards because they've never been drafted and sent off to war. You're right, it's not fair. That's the way life works. The free world was facing a threat to its very existence, and had to do things that wouldn't be justified under ordinary circumstances. You don't win wars by being nice.
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