Eddie Slovik, 1920-1945, the only Soldier to be executed since the Civil War.

From the Jewish Virtual Library Eddie Slovik, a private in the United States Army, was the last U.S. solider to be executed for desertion. 

Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, supreme allied commander, personally ordered the execution during the closing days of World War II to deter other potential deserters. Slovik was court-martialed for desertion under fire and sentenced to death by firing squad. His execution was carried out in the closing months of World War II, on January 31, 1945, near the village of Ste-Marie aux Mines. 

He was buried in the Oise-Aisne Cemetery, Fere-en-Tardenois , France, in a secret cemetery with 94 American soldiers executed for the crimes of rape and murder. 

In 1987, 42 after Slovik’s execution, his remains were returned to Michigan and reburied next to his wife Antoinette. 

The story of his execution was made into a motion picture with actor Martin Sheen in the role of Private Slovik.

Martin Sheen received an Emmy nomination for his portrayal of the only American soldier to be executed for desertion since the Civil War, going to the firing squad in 1945. The film, Emmy-nominated as Outstanding Drama of the 1973-74 season, is a dramatization of William Bradford Huie’s controversial 1954 book.

The Pentagon attempted unsuccessfully to repress William Bradford Huie’s 1954 book on the subject. In 1960, Frank Sinatra cancelled his proposed film version (scripted by blacklisted writer Albert Maltz) under pressure from Joseph Kennedy, who thought Sinatra’s involvement in such a controversial project would damage JFK’s presidential prospects, the Guardian reports.

From the History Channel:

Private Eddie Slovik was a draftee. Originally classified 4-F because of a prison record (grand theft auto), he was bumped up to a 1-A classification when draft standards were lowered to meet growing personnel needs. In January 1944, he was trained to be a rifleman, which was not to his liking, as he hated guns.

In August of the same year, Slovik was shipped to France to fight with the 28th Infantry Division, which had already suffered massive casualties in the fighting there and in Germany. Slovik was a replacement, a class of soldier not particular respected by officers. As he and a companion were on the way to the front lines, they became lost in the chaos of battle, only to stumble upon a Canadian unit that took them in.

Slovik stayed on with the Canadians until October 5, when they turned him and his buddy over to the American military police, who reunited them with the 28th Division, now in Elsenborn, Belgium. No charges were brought; replacements getting lost early on in their tours of duty were not unusual. But exactly one day after Slovik returned to his unit, he claimed he was “too scared and too nervous” to be a rifleman and threatened to run away if forced into combat. 

His appeals failed. General Eisenhower approved the execution.

Fast Forward to the saga of Bowe Bergdahl, deserter in Afghanistan. The story: