14. Eddie Slovik Rejected Multiple Opportunities to Save Himself
Eddie Slovik’s confession made its way to his commander, who read it and told him to destroy it and avoid arrest. He declined. He was taken to a higher ranking officer, who told Slovik that if he tore up the confession and returned to his unit, no further action would be taken. Immune to good advice, he refused. He was then instructed to write another note on the back of his confession, stating that he understood the legal ramifications of deliberately incriminating himself, and that his note could be used against him during a court-martial.
Slovik, seemingly impervious to good counsel, went ahead and did that. He was then arrested and taken into custody. A Judge Advocate General (JAG) officer offered Slovik a last chance, promising to drop all charges if he returned to his unit. He even offered a transfer to another infantry regiment, where no one knew what Slovik had done, thus enabling him to start over with a clean slate. The oblivious GI rejected the final chance to save himself, and stated: “I’ve made up my mind. I’ll take my court-martial“.
