12. Going over to the enemy side is an ultimate act of treason
Going over to the side of the enemy was the act which made Benedict Arnold’s name synonymous with betrayal and treason. It brought Arnold loathing from officers American and British, as it also violated the code of honor of the time. Another, far less known American officer sold out to the enemy during World War II. Martin James Monti was a US Army Air Force pilot who in 1944 stole a P-38 which had been modified as a photo-reconnaissance plane and flew it to Milan, where he surrendered the airplane and himself to the German authorities. After convincing the Germans of his intention to defect he was assigned to work within a propaganda unit of the Waffen SS.
Monti joined the SS as an untersturmfuhrer (roughly equivalent to a second lieutenant) and wrote both materials for radio propaganda broadcasts and leaflets. At the end of the war, he was captured in his SS uniform. He was tried for stealing the plane and desertion, sentenced to fifteen years confinement, and then released in 1948 with an honorable discharge. He was then arrested by the FBI, who had identified him as an SS propagandist who had used the name Martin Wiethaupt. He was eventually charged with 21 counts of treason against the United States, to which he pleaded guilty, though he did testify to each charge that he had acted voluntarily. Sentenced to 25 years in prison he was released in 1960 on parole.