Sometimes history gives us stories that are both fascinating and wonderful. Other times, they are difficult or tragic. This one is a bit on the tragic side.
This is about who got on the wrong side of things. It happens sometimes.
On January 31, 1945, Pvt. Eddie Slovik became the first American soldier since the Civil War to be executed for desertion. Not only that, he was the only U.S. soldier shot for desertion during World War II.
Slovik’s story is a messy one. He wasn’t your gung-ho soldier type. Far from it, in fact. He had a prison record (grand theft auto), which at first kept him out of the draft. But as the war dragged on, the Army needed more men. So wouldn’t you know? Uncle Sam’s standards dropped.
Suddenly, Eddie was in. The Army trained him as a rifleman even though he hated guns. And once he was all spiffed up, they shipped him off to France in 1944.
His division had already taken heavy losses, and as a replacement, he was not exactly welcomed with open arms. In the confusion of battle, he and a buddy got lost and ended up with a Canadian unit for a while. When they were eventually handed back to the U.S. Army, no one raised a fuss. That’s because replacements who got lost were a pretty common thing.
But the thing was? Eddie didn’t want to fight. The very next day, he flat-out told his officers he was too scared, that he’d desert if they sent him into combat.
Well. The next day, he deserted. Then he came back, put it all in writing, and handed it over like a signed confession. His officers practically begged him to take it back. But he wouldn’t.
The Army offered him a deal. They said he could go into combat right then, and they would forget the whole thing. Eddie refused. So, he went to trial. It lasted less than two hours, and the verdict was unanimous. They found him guilty of desertion and sentenced him “to be shot to death with musketry.”
Eddie appealed, all the way up to General Eisenhower himself. But the timing couldn’t have been worse. The Battle of the Bulge was raging, and thousands of American soldiers were dying in the snow.
Eisenhower wasn’t in any kind of mood to show him mercy for refusing to fight.
So, on that cold January morning in eastern France, Private Eddie Slovik faced a 12-man firing squad. And they shot him to death. He was 24 years old.
Out of more than 20,000 U.S. soldiers convicted of desertion in WWII, Eddie Slovik was the only one to be executed.
This story hit me because my dad served in WWII. Dad was a man of peace. He professed it his entire life. He prayed for it every day. I imagine it was extremely difficult for him to fight in that war. But he did. Day in and day out. On the dangerous and horrific European Front.
When we asked him about the war, he would not really talk about it. He had a couple of “light” stories that he would recount. He never told us about the horrors of it all. But he served, and I’m sure he did it well. He felt it was his job to meet his call of duty.
For those who deserted, I cannot stand in judgment. For all I know, I would have done the same thing given the situations they were in.
And that is the thing. We can’t judge others if we have never stood in their place. If we have never walked in their shoe. So with that, may we all strive for peace. In all we do. All the time.
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“Judging others makes us blind, whereas love is illuminating.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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“War does not determine who is right—only who is left.” – Bertrand Russell
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“Peace begins with a smile.” – Mother Teresa
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“When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.” – Jimi Hendrix
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