<Tr> <Th> Battles / wars </Th> <Td> World War II </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Spouse (s) </Th> <Td> Antoinette Wisniewski (m . 1942--1945) </Td> </Tr> <P> Edward Donald Slovik (February 18, 1920--January 31, 1945) was a United States Army soldier during World War II and the only American soldier to be court - martialled and executed for desertion since the American Civil War . </P> <P> Although over 21,000 American soldiers were given varying sentences for desertion during World War II, including forty - nine death sentences, Slovik's death sentence was the only one that was carried out . </P>

Who is the only man in the u.s. military to have been executed for desertion during world war two