Eddie Slovik
| Eddie Slovik | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Birth name | Edward Donald Slovik |
| Nickname(s) | "Eddie" |
| Born |
February 18, 1920 Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Died | January 31, 1945 (aged 24) Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, France |
| Allegiance |
 United States of America
|
| Service/branch |
 United States Army
|
| Years of service | 1944–1945 |
| Rank | Private |
| Service number | 36896415 |
| Unit | Company G, 109th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division |
| Battles/wars |
World War II 
|
| Spouse(s) | Antoinette Wisniewski (m. 1942–45) |
Edward Donald "Eddie" Slovik (February 18, 1920 – January 31, 1945) 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.
Although over 21,000 American soldiers were given varying sentences for desertion during World War II, including 49 death sentences, Slovik's death sentence was the only one that was carried out.
During World War II, 1.7 million courts-martial were held, representing one third of all criminal cases tried in the United States during the same period. Most of the cases were minor, as were the sentences. Nevertheless, a clemency board, appointed by the Secretary of War in the summer of 1945, reviewed all general courts-martial where the accused was still in confinement. That Board remitted or reduced the sentence in 85 percent of the 27,000 serious cases reviewed. The death penalty was rarely imposed, and those cases typically were for rapes or murders. Slovik was the only soldier executed who had been convicted of a "purely military" offense.
Slovik was born in Detroit, Michigan, to a Polish-American family, the son of Anna and Josef Slowikowski. As a minor, he was arrested frequently. Slovik's first arrest was at 12 years old when he and some friends broke into a foundry to steal brass. Between 1932 and 1937, he was caught for several incidents of petty theft, breaking and entering, and disturbing the peace. In October 1937, he was sent to prison but was paroled in September 1938. After stealing and crashing a car with two friends while drunk, he was sent back to prison in January 1939.
In April 1942, Slovik was paroled once more, and he obtained a job at Montella Plumbing and Heating in Dearborn, Michigan. There he met the woman who would become his wife, Antoinette Wisniewski, while she was working as a bookkeeper for the owner, James Montella. They married on November 7, 1942 and lived with her parents. Slovik's criminal record made him classified as unfit for duty in the U.S. military (4-F), but, shortly after the couple's first wedding anniversary, Slovik was reclassified as fit for duty (1-A) and subsequently drafted by the Army.
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