Exécuté pour désertion

I was there when Slovik was murdered. I heard very few GIs condemning Slovik. Eisenhower received universal criticism for his cowardly decision. Making an example of someone seldom has the desired effect. I was a M/Sgt but saw the dire consequences of Commisioned Officers' decisions costing many lives unnecessarily. None of them were ever court martialled for that.. Slovik's not fighting cost less lives than Officers' mistakes. I try to remember only the Good things of that War as few as they are. I watched the movie only a short while and it brought back so many bad memories I couldn't watch the rest. Since then, I don't watch war movies, the Real thing can never be portrayed via the Media.

War is a brutal business, and people are going to die. But to execute anyone, for simply not wanting to kill or be killed to me is outright murder. I could understand sending him to the stockades for a few months, but to out and out order his murder just to make an example is wrong on so many levels. Personally forcing anyone to kill or be killed is way more cowardly than what Eddie Slovik did. Slovik, at least as far as the way the movie presented him, while not being an angel, was a man of principals after he left the reformatory. He never lied about his intentions, all he wanted was a discharge. He was willing to spend time in the stockades and face contempt most likely when he got back to the states. I liked at the end of the movie after he was pronounced dead where Ned Beatty's charachter said "the bravest man here today was Eddie Slovik". War is a horrible thing that has been going on for around 5000 years, and probably will keep on for another 5000, if we as a people don't kill ourselves and our planet first.

I read the book in 1970 or so when I was in the Army, I thought the movie was pretty well balanced. The book starts with Huie visiting the "Dishonored Dead" section of the US Oise-Aisne Cemetery in France where Slovik was initially buried-his remains were repatriated in 1987. The author keeps asking why only one death sentence carried out and why Slovik, why if the purpose was to make an example of him was the execution carried out in secrecy. From there he goes into Slovik's troubled youth, his criminal record which initially protected him from the draft. But as the Drill Sergeant tells him and his fellow recruits in Basic, "You guys are the bottom of the barrel. But now the heat's one, Uncle Same needs bodies, and the bottom of that barrel is starting to look mighty good." Armies-and the governments they serve-have a funny way of lowering their standards as wars drag on. The official name of the Draft in the USA was (and is) Selective Service, by 1943 they were a lot less selective. Slovik was a good example of what WWII GIs called "The Sad Sack" (in my day, 1967-1971, a "dud", in civilianese we might say a loser.

One poster said Slovik gambled and lost, a very apt description. He repeatedly declared he would desert if given the chance, he was given a chance to redeem himself, he refused-I can clearly recall the scene where he tells the JAG officer "I want my court martial." Eisenhower hoped he could equal Pershing's record of no executions for desertion, but as the author notes he had a lot of other things on his plate. The author notes the court martial was made up of rear echelon officers, he notes the presence of some combat arms officers would have been better but they were otherwise engaged. I recall the scene where the president of the court reads the written secret ballots, realizes the vote is unanimous for death, tells the others "Let's have another cigarette and think about this."

Worth watching, very true to the source, this is one you watch and you draw your own conclusions.

I saw this made for TV film when it originally came out. Martin Sheens star was rising and the network that broadcast it hyped it pretty well but didn't over do it. It has a number of documentary type scenes in it which keeps the whole story of Slovik on track . The story was going to be made into a film a number of years earlier with Steve McQueen in the title role but some political pressure blocked it. The fact is Eddie Slovik wasn't the only American soldier executed in WWII. He was the only one executed for desertion. All these years later his execution clearly was something that shouldn't have taken place. The officers who made the decision to shoot him were more than likely worrying not about his life but about their life and military career. Even though the viewer knows that Pvt Slovik will be executed the scene in which he is led out, tied up, hooded, last rites given then shot is very moving. Ned Beatty turns in a good performance as an Army Chaplain. Another film that has an Army execution scene in it that will grip the viewer is `The Victors' Check that one out as well.

I am 45 years old and I watched this 'Movie Of The Week' on TV when it was new. As I grew older I saw it again and would notice certain things that I didn't see when I was younger. The TV Movies, now called TV Mini-series were so much better in the early to mid 1970s, I think.

Now, I would find it very hard to watch because many people believe Pvt. Slovik should not have been executed considering the overall circumstances and also because of so many other experiences over my years. This film helped shaped my heartfelt opposition to the death penalty. I'm happy to say that I have always respected the work of Martin Sheen and his sons over the years.

John Martin, Fort Worth, Texas