Are Deserters Still Shot?

The maximum U.S. penalty for desertion in wartime remains death, although this punishment was last applied to Eddie Slovik in 1945.

When did the military stop executing deserters?

No deserter had been executed since 1865, when Private William Smitz of the 90th Pennsylvania Infantry faced a firing squad. Of the 2,864 men tried for desertion since 1941, 48 had been sentenced to death, and those sentences were later reduced to imprisonment.

What happens to military deserters?

Desertion carries a maximum punishment of dishonorable discharge, loss of all pay, and confinement of five years. For desertion during a war, however, the death penalty may be applied (at the discretion of the court-martial). Desertion is the most serious of the absentee offenses.