The Eddie Slovik Court-Martial: The Only American Executed for Desertion Since the Civil War
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Private Eddie Slovik was shot by an Army firing squad near Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, France, on January 31, 1945. He is the only American soldier executed for desertion since the Civil War. More than 21,000 American servicemen faced desertion charges during World War II, Military.com reports. Forty-nine received death sentences, and every one except Slovik’s was commuted to prison time. Slovik was convicted of two specifications of desertion to avoid hazardous duty after he handed the Army a signed confession saying he would run away again. He refused several offers to destroy it and return to duty. A nine-officer court-martial sentenced him to death on November 11, 1944. His division commander approved the sentence, and General Dwight D. Eisenhower confirmed it on December 23, during the Battle of the Bulge. The intent element of his desertion was proven by his own words. And the death sentence was carried out because none of the reviewing authorities stopped it.
The Slovik Record in Brief
| Item | Record |
|---|---|
| Accused | Private Eddie D. Slovik, Company G, 109th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division |
| Background | Born in Detroit in 1920; classified 4-F for his criminal record, then reclassified 1-A and drafted Jan. 3, 1944 |
| Absence | Left his unit Oct. 8, 1944, after telling his company commander he was too scared to serve in a rifle company |
| Confession | Handed a signed written confession to a cook at a military government detachment on Oct. 9 |
| Charges (Oct. 19, 1944) | Two specifications of desertion to avoid hazardous duty |
| Trial (Nov. 11, 1944) | Nine staff officers, Roetgen, Germany; convicted in less than two hours |
| Sentence | Death by firing squad |
| Review | Approved by Maj. Gen. Norman Cota, Nov. 27; confirmed by Eisenhower, Dec. 23; upheld by the European Theater Board of Review, Jan. 6, 1945 |
| Execution | Jan. 31, 1945, by a 12-man firing squad from the 109th Infantry |
How the Case Was Built
Slovik and another soldier were separated from their unit during German shelling near Elbeuf in August 1944 and spent weeks with a Canadian unit. Military.com reports that when they returned to American lines on October 5, “no charges were filed. Replacement soldiers getting lost in combat was a common occurrence.”
What followed was different. On October 8, Slovik told Captain Ralph Grotte he was “too scared” to serve in a rifle company and asked for a rear assignment. When that was refused, he asked, “If I leave now, will it be desertion?” Grotte said it would, and Slovik walked away. The next day he handed a cook “a slip of green paper containing a handwritten confession.” History.com describes it as a “confession of desertion, claiming he would run away again if forced to fight”.
He was then given a series of chances to undo it. The company commander urged him to destroy the confession. Lieutenant Colonel Ross Henbest offered to let him tear it up and return with no charges. The division judge advocate, Lieutenant Colonel Henry Sommer, offered to drop all charges if he returned to combat, and later offered a transfer to a regiment where no one knew of his desertion. Slovik refused each time. “I’ve made up my mind. I’ll take my court-martial”, he told Sommer. Henbest had him write on the back of the confession that he understood it could be used against him at a court-martial.
The Intent Element, Supplied in Writing
Desertion to avoid hazardous duty is a separate form of the offense from desertion with intent to remain away permanently. It is still in Article 85 of today’s Uniform Code of Military Justice. Under the Manual for Courts-Martial (2024 ed.), Part IV, paragraph 9, the government must prove that the accused quit his unit “with the intent to avoid a certain duty or shirk a certain service”, that “the duty to be performed was hazardous”, and that he “knew that he or she would be required for such duty”. The Manual says hazardous duty “may include service such as duty in a combat or other dangerous area”.
Intent has to be inferred from what the accused did and said. A frightened soldier who drifts away can claim he meant to come back. Slovik closed that gap himself. He asked whether leaving would be desertion before he left, and then wrote that he would run away again if sent into combat. His own words tied the absence to combat: he said he was too scared to serve in a rifle company and would run away again if forced to fight.
| Article 85 today | Maximum punishment (MCM 2024) |
|---|---|
| Desertion to avoid hazardous duty or shirk important service | DD, total forfeitures, 5 years |
| Other desertion, terminated by apprehension | DD, total forfeitures, 3 years |
| Other desertion, terminated otherwise | DD, total forfeitures, 2 years |
| Any desertion in time of war | Death or such other punishment as a court-martial may direct |
The last row is what made Slovik’s case capital. In wartime the ceiling becomes death.
The Trial
Because combat officers were needed at the front, the panel “consisted of nine staff officers from other divisions”, Military.com reports. The prosecution presented the confession and witnesses to his stated intention to run away. His defense counsel, Captain Woods, had mitigating evidence, including that Slovik “had served willingly with the Canadians for six weeks and taken rear-echelon work.” But Slovik “elected to remain silent”, refused to testify, and “refused even to let Woods present the mitigating evidence on his behalf”. History.com reports he “was convicted in less than two hours” and that the panel “passed a unanimous sentence of execution, ‘to be shot to death with musketry.'”
Why the Sentence Was Carried Out
The death sentence then had to pass through reviewing authorities, and each of them could have stopped it. In 48 of the 49 death sentences for desertion in the war, someone did.
In Slovik’s case, no one did. Major General Norman Cota approved the sentence on November 27. “Given the situation as I knew it in November 1944, I thought it was my duty to this country to approve that sentence,” he said later. Sommer recommended execution, describing Slovik as “a habitual criminal” who had never seen combat and “avows his intent to run again if he has to go out there.” On December 9, Slovik wrote to Eisenhower asking for mercy “for the sake of my dear wife and mother back home.” In the letter he claimed he had not understood what desertion meant, which his own question to Grotte contradicted. Eisenhower confirmed the execution on December 23, “noting it was necessary to discourage further desertions.” The European Theater Board of Review upheld the sentence on January 6, 1945.
His last statement, as reported by Military.com, began: “They’re not shooting me for deserting the United States Army; thousands of guys have done that. They just need to make an example out of somebody, and I’m it because I’m an ex-con.”
Secrecy and Aftermath
The execution meant as a deterrent was not publicized. “Only the 109th Regiment announced it to its soldiers”, and Slovik’s widow “was told only that her husband died under ‘dishonorable circumstances'”, Military.com reports. The case became public when William Bradford Huie published “The Execution of Private Slovik” in 1954. In 1987, after his widow’s death, a veteran raised money to return his remains to Michigan. NPR, reporting in October 2026, noted that Slovik’s was the U.S. military’s last execution by firing squad until the one approved that month for Nidal Hasan.
His Own Words, and the Reviewers’ Choice
Desertion to avoid hazardous duty turns on intent, and Slovik proved his own: a question asked before he left and a confession written after. Desertion in time of war still carries a possible death sentence under Article 85. Slovik’s case also shows where the sentence was actually decided. A unanimous panel imposed death, but in 48 other wartime desertion cases the same punishment was commuted. His sentence was carried out because the division commander, the reviewing lawyers, and the Supreme Allied Commander each chose to let it stand.
Sources
- Military.com, “Death by Firing Squad: Eddie Slovik Became the Only U.S. Soldier Executed for Desertion in WWII”, Dec. 5, 2025
- History.com, “The execution of Pvt. Slovik”, January 31, 1945
- NPR, “Trump approved the military’s 1st firing squad execution since WWII. Why now?”, Oct. 7, 2026
- 10 U.S.C. 885, Article 85, Desertion (Cornell LII)
- Manual for Courts-Martial, United States (2024 ed.), Part IV, para. 9 (Article 85).
This case study describes a World War II court-martial and its review as reported in historical accounts. It is educational information, not legal advice.