The 1945 death of Private Eddie Slovik is pretty heart-breaking stuff. The 24-year-old was shipped off to France and, in his first experience in active combat, knew he couldn’t cut it. He took off, fell in with a group of Canadian soldiers, was handed over to the Americans, and given a second chance. After leaving again, he surrendered with a note that read, in part (via American Heritage), “I, Pvt. Eddie D. Slovik, … confess to the desertion of the United States Army. … I told my commanding officer my story. I said that if I had to go out their again Id run away. He said their was nothing he could do for me to I ran away again AND ILL RUN AWAY AGAIN IF I HAVE TO GO OUT THEIR.”
Slovik was put on trial, then put in front of the firing squad: The 12 soldiers chosen to shoot him didn’t make a clean kill of it, and he died as they were reloading. It might seem like that kind of punishment was left behind in the 1940s, but the potential to hand out the death penalty for desertion during wartime is still on the books.
The Congressional Research Services points to this clause, stating: “[desertion or attempted desertion] shall be punished, ‘if the offense is committed in time of war,’ by death or ‘such other punishment as a court-martial may direct.'” In addition, a declaration of war allows for the death penalty to be handed out in other cases, too, including disobeying orders given by a superior officer, and falling asleep while on guard duty.
