Vienna memorial to victims of Nazi military justice

Tomorrow Austria will dedicate a memorial in Vienna to those deserters and others who were executed by the military justice system under the Nazi regime for deserting or refusing to serve. According to this report, "Nazi military justice handed out more than 30,000 death sentences to soldiers, prisoners of war and civilians." Taking part in the Ballhausplatz ceremony will be Austrian President Heinz Fischer and 92-year-old Richard Wadani (above), one of the few surviving Wehrmacht deserters. Similar memorials are being planned for Linz and Bregenz.

Top UCMJ court holds hearing at Camp Lejeune

Photo by Cpl. Michael Oxton, USMC

As part of its Project Outreach, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces has traveled to North Carolina to hear a case at the Camp Lejeune Officers Club. At issue in United States v. Gilbreath was "whether or not a non-drilling reservist suspected of violating the UCMJ while still on active duty, must be advised of his Article 31(b) rights before being questioned by someone still on active duty about the suspected offense." Some 200 people attended.

Why is the U.S. Coast Guard investigating these cases?

Two petty officers from USCGC Liberty are under Coast Guard investigation following state charges that they failed to salvage game meat as required by Alaska law. They had illegally dumped a deer and four ducks. According to this article:

Alaska Department of Fish and Game hunting regulations and state statutes requires that all edible game meat be salvaged and taken to a place to be processed for human consumption. Failure to salvage game meat is a class ‘A’ misdemeanor which can be punishable by up to a year in jail and a $10,000 fine.

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The Coast Guard is investigating the incident to determine whether disciplinary action should be taken against the two men, Coast Guard District 17 spokesman Chief Petty Officer Kip Wadlow said. Any action will be taken after the criminal court case is complete, he said.

“That can depend on the investigation,” he said, describing the range of possible repercussions by the military. “It could be anything just from administrative discipline to potentially something more severe under the (Uniform Code of Military Justice), depending on what the results of the investigation are.”

The Coast Guard is also investigating an officer who was cited by the state for illegally shooting a bear that was rummaging in trash in his yard.

Editor's query: Why can't the service leave these matters to local law enforcement? Ditto for this Coast Guard case of assault on civilians and being drunk and disorderly outside a bar in Key West? There the accused, who was acquitted of abusive sexual conduct, was sentenced to 30 days restriction and hard labor without confinement. Would a civilian court have been more lenient? Does it matter?

Sex and the Union Army

Prof. Judith Giesberg

Villanova Professor of History Judith Giesberg will be delivering a talk at Penn State's Nittany Lion Inn on November 7 with this title: “'Storming the Enemy’s Entrenchments': Civil War Courts Martial and the Sexual Culture of the U.S. Army Camp." Click here for further information.

Lese majeste cases in Thai military courts

Cases involving insults to the monarch (lese majeste) are being referred to the military courts under the current Thai government, according to this report:

[T]he laws of lese majeste, which outlaw insults or criticism of the current monarchy, have been extended in recent years to protect anything connected to the Crown as anxiety over the royal succession mounts.

Last week, two ultra-royalist military officers filed a complaint against Sulak Sivaraksa, 82, over remarks about King Naresuan, who reigned between 1595 and 1605 and is seen as a national hero.

Sivaraksa questioned Naresuan’s victory over a Burmese crown prince in an elephant duel in 1593 at the battle of Nong Sarai.

“Is Naresuan really a hero as they claim?” he reportedly said. “Did anyone of us actually see King Naresuan engaging in an elephant duel?”

Since the military took power in May, all lese majeste cases are being tried by military courts, where there is no possibility of appeal. The offense is punishable by up to 15 years imprisonment and, with cumulative sentencing, offenders can be sentenced to several decades in jail.

Exam question: what's wrong with this picture?