13. Be Careful What You Wish For
It was unfortunate for Private Eddie Slovik that he had chosen the worst possible moment to try and get cute with the US Army. In the fall of 1944, Allied casualties in France were soaring, morale was at an all-time low, and desertions were at an all-time high. To restore order and discipline, the authorities needed to make an example of somebody. Along came Slovik: a jailbird thinking he was smarter than he actually was, openly defying the US military and daring it to do its worst. So it did.
It was an illustration of “be careful what you wish for”. Slovik was charged with desertion to avoid hazardous duty, and got his day in court on November 11, 1944. His confession was presented to the military tribunal, and he chose not to testify. Slovik was not surprised when he was convicted – it was what he had counted on. He was unpleasantly surprised, however, when the court sentenced him not to the relative safety and comfort of a military prison, as he had hoped, but to death.
