Customer Reviews

Martial Justice: The Last Mass Execution in the United States (Bluejacket Books)

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Martial Justice: The Last Mass Execution in the United States is a compelling account of a conflict between honor and the fight against tyranny. A historical tragedy of German Submariner POW Werner Drechsler who was willing to sacrifice the bond of comradeship to save his homeland. On the other side, seven fellow German Submariner POWs who see Drechsler as a traitor. The actions taken by the seven leads them down a twisted wartime legal path that ends with their execution after the surrender of Germany. The book examines the strong bonds of loyalty shared amongst these young men. A close-knit fraternity which became stronger through adversity. The many questions left unanswered by history begs the reader to examine the tarnished legacy left behind by the prisoner of war experience in the United States.

Completely fascinating. Most Americans don't even know we had hundreds of camps all over the U.S. that housed German POWs. We study all the heros and villains of the war in broad terms, and tend to forget that there were thousands of little events that to the people involved were every bit as important as the publicized events. The U.S. Army executed a group of Germans who did what the American Army itself would have expected of its soldiers, and hushed up if American POWs did exactly the same thing. This is a frightening study of how the military bureaucracy is a law unto its own purposes. "The Killing of Corporal Kunz" and "Extreme Justice" are further fascinating looks at the same kind of situation.

Captivating, I couldn't put it down. Very well researched and extremely well written and easy to read. Any student of the U-boat was would do well to read this sad chapter in the history of the Ubootwaffe. It really gets into the mindset of the crews. Human nature is a fascinating beast and Martial Justice is a great study in the good and bad in us all.