rcca-38812 warning: Spoilers in the comment.I don't agree with those who try to cast Slovik's case as some kind of brave act of civil disobedience. It certainly was not. Slovik was expecting the same leniency as other deserters received before him; and when he realized his case was really going end up in execution, it was too late.However it confirmed my conviction, that no American citizen should be forced to fight for the sake of an Allied country. It maybe sometimes reasonable for a country under attack, in a middle of an existential threat, to conscript able-bodied men against their will, and execute them if they refuse to fight; because there is no room to retreat, it is fight or die. However, neither Slovik nor million other non-volunteer US conscripts were a French or Belgian citizens. It was not their moral obligation to fight and die in Europe. Of course, U.S. did the right thing to intervene; and it should have sent all the volunteers she could muster. However a moral line was crossed when young men were conscripted against their will at the threat of jail punishment; and another line was crossed, when one of them was executed for refusing.

lexvmi William Bradford Huie was a terrific writer and this fact based movie of his book is also terrific. Though Huie believed that Eddie Slovik should not have been shot, I disagree. War is hell and no man should shirk his duty when called upon to do his duty as many were willing to do; he was unwilling to do his duty when called upon. He was a coward, a very selfish man, and his criminal record shows this and demonstrates his unwillingness to conform to society and be productive. He was willing for others to do his duty while he wanted to live his life as he wanted. If everyone was allowed to do what he wanted to do we may very well have lost WW II--what a horrible thought! Martin Sheen gives his best performance of his career in this movie; too bad that it had to be so unsympathetic a role. Slovik received what he deserved; too bad others think not.

carterike A scene in another movie loosely based on Private Slovik's execution, done ironically (presumably anti-war), with "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" (sung by Frank Sinatra, maybe?) as background music. Can anyone tell me the name of the movie?I think the movie plot is the experiences of a particular platoon of men fighting in Europe in World War II, engaging in one battle after another. I don't remember the actors, or who played the soldier being shot.The scene leaves a vivid impression, with the group of soldiers being forced to attend the execution against their will, and marching to the scene in bitter cold weather, in the snow.

lord woodburry This film received and deserved the many comments it has received. Indeed I think of Private Slovik whenever I see The Bush decked out in his cute little airforce suit declaring victories in Irak. But for a rich Dad, The Bush's story could have been the same.The film was excellently made. Martin Sheen departed from his usual tough guy All American role to play the snivelling coward Pvt Slovik whose very name excited the passions of the surviving veterans of "The Big One" whenever a Democratic President proposed rehabilitation as Johnson and Carter would have but for the intense opposition they encountered. Certainly one can sympathize with the character Sheen played as he happily profits while others receive draft notices or volunteer for war.But wars, even one so popular with the liberal intellectuals as World War II, cost. The manpower pool drains and less likely men such as Slovik must be called upon.Oh yes Slovik was no kind of soldier. A Sergeant had to fake Slovik's rifle range card to get Slovik out of BCT (Basic Training.) It would seem Slovik's military career got off to an inauspicious beginning. In combat Slovik deserts and refuses to return to the front.Was Pvt Slovik justified in being afraid? Of course he was! Every sane person who heard rifles crackle was afraid. Pvt Slovik differed. He acted on his fears. If everyone in a military unit acted on fear, the resulting panic would lead to disastrous defeat. In combat with an enemy like the German Reich or Imperial Japan, defeat would not have been a matter like paying off the enemy with a grain deal but would have had a direct and disastrous effect on major segments of the American population.Slovik played the system. Offered the chance to return to the front, he gambled on a courtmartial and lost. With the type of casualties incurred in combat, the result was obvious. Slovik figured the sentence would be remitted and reduced to 30 years. With bravado not shown to the enemy, Slovik prophesied that after the war it'd be reduced to time served.Instead he was led to the firing squad, the only possible end under the circumstances. He stands as a tribute to the irrationality of war. We can only justify the sacrifices of combat by the punishment meted out to those who shrink from it.