Dale Maple
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Dale H. Maple | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 10, 1920 San Diego, California, U.S. |
| Died | May 28, 2001 (aged 80) El Cajon, California, U.S. |
| Criminal status | Deceased |
| Convictions | Aiding the enemy Desertion |
| Criminal penalty | Death; commuted to life imprisonment; further commuted to 10 years imprisonment |
Dale H. Maple (September 10, 1920 – May 28, 2001) was a private in the United States Army in World War II who helped two German prisoners of war (POWs) escape in 1943. The POWs were recaptured, and Maple was court-martialed for aiding the enemy and sentenced to death by hanging.[1][2] He was the first American soldier ever convicted of a crime equivalent to treason.[3] However, his sentence was first commuted to life imprisonment, then to ten years. Maple was released from prison in October 1950.[4]
Maple was born in San Diego, California on September 10, 1920.[3] His working-class parents were of English and Irish extraction.[1]
Maple graduated first in his class of 585[3] from San Diego High School at the age of sixteen[5] and won a scholarship to Harvard University.[3] In 1941, he received a bachelor's degree in comparative philology magna cum laude, specializing in German, from Harvard[1][2] and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.[1] An FBI agent later described him as "one of the most intelligent men I have ever had the opportunity to interview".[2] However, Maple was pressured into resigning from the university German Club for singing the "Horst-Wessel-Lied" and other Nazi songs.[1][6] When he told The Crimson student newspaper that "even a bad dictatorship is better than a good democracy", he was also dismissed from the campus Reserve Officers' Training Corps.[1][2][6]
