29 Facts About Eddie Slovik

Edward Donald Slovik was a United States Army soldier during World War II and the only American soldier to be court-martialled and executed for desertion since the American Civil War.

Eddie Slovik was the only soldier executed who had been convicted of a "purely military" offense.

Eddie Slovik was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1920 to a Catholic, Polish-American family, the son of Anna Lutsky and Josef Slowikowski.

Eddie Slovik was first arrested at age 12 when he and some friends broke into a foundry to steal brass.

Eddie Slovik then obtained a job at Montella Plumbing and Heating in Dearborn, Michigan.

Eddie Slovik was working as a bookkeeper for Montella Plumbing's owner, James Montella.

Eddie Slovik arrived at Camp Wolters, Texas for basic training on January 24,1944, and was assigned to Company D of the 59th Infantry Training Battalion on January 31,1944.

Eddie Slovik stayed in the division rear area overnight, before being assigned along with fifteen other men to Company G, 109th Infantry Regiment on August 25,1944.

Eddie Slovik then told Grotte that he would run away if he were assigned to a rifle unit, and asked his captain if that would constitute desertion, resulting in a court-martial.

Eddie Slovik walked several miles to the rear and approached an enlisted cook at a military government detachment of the 112th Infantry Regiment, presenting him with a note which stated:.

Eddie Slovik said there was nothing he could do for me so I ran away again AND I'LL RUN AWAY AGAIN IF I HAVE TO GO OUT THEIR [sic; "THERE"].

Eddie Slovik was brought before Lieutenant Colonel Ross Henbest, who again offered him the opportunity to tear up the note, return to his unit, and face no further charges; Slovik again refused.

Henbest instructed Eddie Slovik to write another note on the back of the first one stating that he fully understood the consequences of deliberately incriminating himself, and that it would be used as evidence against him in a court-martial.

Eddie Slovik was taken into custody and confined to the division stockade.

Eddie Slovik offered to transfer Slovik to a different infantry regiment in the division where no one would know of his past and he could start with a "clean slate".

Eddie Slovik was charged with desertion to avoid hazardous duty and tried by court-martial on November 11,1944.

Eddie Slovik had to be tried by a court-martial composed of staff officers from other US Army divisions, because all combat officers from the 28th Infantry Division were fighting on the front lines.

The prosecutor, Captain John Green, presented witnesses to whom Eddie Slovik had stated his intention to "run away".

Eddie Slovik has directly challenged the authority of the government, and future discipline depends upon a resolute reply to this challenge.

Eddie Slovik deserted from his group of fifteen when about to join the infantry company to which he had been assigned.

Eddie Slovik has never seen combat, has run away twice when he believed himself approaching it and avows his intent to run again if he has "to go out there".

The defiant Eddie Slovik said to the soldiers whose duty it was to prepare him for the firing squad before they led him to the place of execution:.

Eddie Slovik was wrapped with a GI blanket over his shoulders to protect him against the cold, and led into the courtyard of a house chosen for the execution because of its high masonry wall, which would deflect errant bullets and discourage the local French civilians from witnessing the proceedings.

Eddie Slovik was then strapped to the post with web belts, with one wrapped around and under his arms and hung on a spike on the back side of the post to prevent his body from slumping following the volley, and the others securing his waist and knees.

An Army physician quickly determined Eddie Slovik had not been immediately killed.

Antoinette Eddie Slovik petitioned the Army for her husband's remains and his pension until her death in 1979.

In 1987, Calka raised $5,000 to pay for the exhumation of Eddie Slovik's remains from Row 3, Grave 65 of Plot E, and their transfer to Detroit's Woodmere Cemetery, where Eddie Slovik was reburied next to his wife.

At least one of the members of the tribunal came to believe that Eddie Slovik's execution was an injustice in light of all the circumstances, and was an example of disparate treatment from a flawed process.

In 1974, Huie's book was adapted by Lamont Johnson into a TV movie, titled The Execution of Private Eddie Slovik, which starred Martin Sheen.