Eddie, have you ever noticed the bumper-stickers around town stating "I love my country but fear its government"? You're going to meet a lot of that type here. There are lots of different stories why. I know that you are local to me, so one of these days we should meet and I'll tell you some, that are not fit for a public forum.
From the link:
The following day, on October 8, Slovik informed his company commander, Captain Ralph Grotte, that he was "too scared" to serve in a rifle company and asked to be reassigned to a rear area unit. He told Grotte that he would run away if he were assigned to a rifle unit, and asked his captain if that would constitute desertion. Grotte confirmed that it would. He refused Slovik's request for reassignment and sent him to a rifle platoon.
If one guy loses his resolve, isn't there a risk that others will start doing so too? You want your troops to have a strong sense of common purpose, and to build up each other's morale. So wouldn't it have helped preserve troop morale and avoided un-necessary controversy to quietly reassign him? If that became its own controversy, you simply ritually shame him in front of the other troops and they are unlikely to follow suite.
Eisenhower confirmed the execution order on December 23, noting that it was necessary to discourage further desertions.
Was desertion a significant issue in the US army? I thought that was France and Italy. Why did Eisenhower, an "armchair general", literally, sucking champagne and fois gras from well behind the safety of the lines, not only have but actually disclose such a poor opinion of the valor of US troops? What kind of message does that send the troops? That they are there because they are defending their country (in Europe?), or because if they refuse, they'll be shot?
