Editing Eddie Slovik (section)

==Execution==
The execution by firing squad was carried out at 10:04&nbsp;a.m. on January 31, 1945, near the village of [[Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines]]. The defiant 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:
{{blockquote|
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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Glass |first=Charles |title=Deserter : the last untold story of the Second World War |publisher=HarperPress |year=2013 |isbn=978-0007345922 |location=London |oclc=818449638}}</ref>
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As required by military custom, Slovik's uniform was stripped of all identifying military insignia, buttons, and any other accoutrements. He was wrapped with a GI blanket over his shoulders to protect him against the cold, and led into the courtyard of a house chosen for the execution because of its high masonry wall, which would deflect errant bullets and discourage the local French civilians from witnessing the proceedings. Soldiers stood him against a six inch by six inch (15&nbsp;×&nbsp;15&nbsp;cm) 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 waist and knees. 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."<ref name="auto" />

The firing squad consisted of twelve soldiers selected from the 109th Regiment. The weapons used were standard-issue [[M1 Garand]] rifles, eleven of them loaded with just one round and one rifle loaded with a blank round.<ref name=Huie /> 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 died. He was 24 years old. The entire execution took 15 minutes.<ref name="Huie">{{Cite book |last=Huie |first=William |title=The Execution of Private Slovik |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=1954 |isbn=978-1594160035 |location=Boston |pages=141ff |author-link=William Bradford Huie}}</ref>