From the time the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7,
1941, until the end of World War II in 1945, 43 US soldiers were
executed for committing the crime of rape. Following the war,
U.S. troops occupied the conquered nations, and by February 22,
1946, the number of soldiers executed for rape had risen to 51.
(This does not include those soldiers executed for committing
the dual crimes of rape and murder.) At the time, article of war
92 made mandatory a sentence of either death or imprisonment for
life for this offense, a far more severe penalty than mandated
by European nations.* Two troubling, but related, phenomena
combined to cause some, and more likely numerous, innocent
soldiers to be unjustly punished for rapes they did not commit
during the War and in its immediate aftermath: First: The
Severity of the Punishment for Rape was Believed to Have
Encouraged False Rape Claims Article of War 92 made mandatory a
sentence of either death or imprisonment for life for soldiers
convicted of this offense.