DARK DAYS OF THE 28TH DIVISION.

Edward Donald Slovik was the only American soldier to be court-martialled and executed for desertion since the American Civil War. Although over 21,000 American soldiers were given varying sentences for desertion during World War II, including forty-nine death sentences, Slovik's death sentence was the only one that was carried out.

The execution by firing squad was carried out at 10:04 a.m. on January 31, 1945, near the village of Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines. The unrepentant Slovik said to the soldiers whose duty it was to prepare him for the firing squad before they led him to the place of execution: "They're not shooting me for deserting the United States Army, thousands of guys have done that. They just need to make an example out of somebody and I'm it because I'm an ex-con. I used to steal things when I was a kid, and that's what they are shooting me for. They're shooting me for the bread and chewing gum I stole when I was 12 years old."

As required by military custom, Slovik's uniform was stripped of all military identifying insignia, buttons or any other accoutrements and wrapped with a GI blanket over his shoulders to protect him against the cold, he was led into the courtyard of a house chosen for the execution because of its high masonry wall to deflect errant bullets and to discourage the local French civilians from witnessing the solemn proceedings. Soldiers stood him against a six inch by six inch post. He was then strapped to the post with web belts, with one wrapped around and under his arms and hung on a spike on the back side of the post to prevent his body from slumping following the volley, and the others securing his knees and ankles. Just before a soldier placed a black hood over his head, the attending chaplain, Father Carl Patrick Cummings, said to Slovik, "Eddie, when you get up there, say a little prayer for me." Slovik replied with his last words: "Okay, Father. I'll pray that you don't follow me too soon."

Twelve hand-picked soldiers were detailed for the firing squad from the 109th Regiment. The weapons used were standard issue M1 Garand rifles with just one round loaded in eleven rifles and one rifle loaded with a blank round.[11] On the command of "Fire", Slovik was hit by eleven bullets, at least four of them being fatal. The wounds ranged from high in the neck region out to the left shoulder, over the left chest, and under the heart. One bullet was in the left upper arm. An Army physician quickly determined Slovik had not been immediately killed. As the firing squad's rifles were being reloaded to fire another volley, Slovik expired. He was 24 years old. The entire execution took 15 minutes.

Slovik was buried in Plot E of Oise-Aisne American Cemetery and Memorial , alongside 95 American soldiers executed for rape or murder. Their grave markers are hidden from view by shrubbery and bear sequential numbers instead of names, making it impossible to identify them individually without knowing the key. Antoinette Slovik petitioned the Army for her husband's remains and his pension until her death in 1979. Slovik's case was taken up in 1981 by former Macomb County Commissioner Bernard V. Calka, a Polish-American World War II veteran, who continued to petition the Army to return Slovik's remains to the United States. In 1987, he persuaded President Ronald Reagan to order their return.

In 1987, Calka raised $5,000 to pay for the exhumation of Slovik's remains from Row 3, Grave 65 of Plot E and their transfer to Detroit's Woodmere Cemetery, where Slovik was reburied next to his wife.

Antoinette Slovik and others had petitioned seven US presidents (Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Jimmy Carter) for a pardon, but none were granted.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Slovik