Oh wow... I have been so busy that I haven't kept up with current events. I *did* hear that he would be standing trial for desertion (the reason I started this thread, after all! )... but I haven't heard anything about dates for a trial or anything. This surely isn't the result of a trial? Oh my, I hope not! Most bothersome to me... we traded/released *terrorists* for this dude. So this is immediate punishment for him before his trial, or the results of a trial? I doubt it happened that fast, but I'll go check it out in a minute.
Yes... with the Civil War work I do, I see it over and over in the records. You deserted and they either shot you or hung you depending on how the person making those decisions was feeling that day. "We're gonna slap yer lil' patty and take away your pay" would have had the officer making that decision laughed out of the military... on either side.
