I believe that an American soldier was shot for desertion in WWII, and then there was that guy who was put to death in one of the western states back in the 1970s I think... I think it was Gary Gilmore, who was executed by firing squad.
Mark
Gilmore was executed in November 76 by firing squad (his choice of method).
Private Eddie Slovik was executed for desertation during WWII. But I don't believe there was a charge of treason.
In Utah, according to Mormon tradition, which requires one's own blood to be spilled to atone for the sin of murder.
Utah offered a choice of hanging or shooting, if I remember correctly. Some reporter asked Gilmore why he wouldn't prefer to be hanged or electrocuted. He answered that folks "might not hang me right" or botch the electrocution, but that he knew first hand that shooting was hard to screw up.
I believe that an American soldier was shot for desertion in WWII, and then there was that guy who was put to death in one of the western states back in the 1970s I think... I think it was Gary Gilmore, who was executed by firing squad.
1. Don't forget: that A-hole Benedict Arnold got away with his treason. He died in England in 1801.
According to Wikipedia (so Lord knows how true it is): "It is said that Arnold asked an officer he had taken captive about what the Americans would do if they captured Arnold, and the Captain is said to have replied "Cut off your right leg, bury it with full military honors, and then hang the rest of you on a gibbet."
2. The World War II soldier who got the firing squad was Eddie Slovik. I remember this because of the movie "The Execution of Private Slovik", with über-lib Martin Sheen playing Slovik sympathetically.