A list con­tain­ing the names of 169 mem­bers of the U.S. mil­i­tary who were exe­cut­ed between 1942 and 1961 was recent­ly dis­cov­ered at the Pentagon. The list also con­tains a few dozen addi­tion­al cas­es where per­sons were sen­tenced to death, but not exe­cut­ed, and the names of 7 German pris­on­ers of war who were exe­cut­ed. The 1961 exe­cu­tion of Pvt. John Bennett, who was hung after con­vic­tions for rape and attempt­ed mur­der, was the mil­i­tary’s last exe­cu­tion. The ledger also includes the name of Pvt. Eddie Slovik, who is the only mem­ber of the U.S. mil­i­tary to be exe­cut­ed for deser­tion since the Civil War. The list was dis­cov­ered by acci­dent by Pentagon employ­ees and was made pub­lic as the mil­i­tary pre­pares to try accused ter­ror­ists cur­rent­ly held at the deten­tion cen­ter in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The death penal­ty is a pos­si­ble sen­tence in such mil­i­tary tri­bunals. (Associated Press, December 12, 2003) See U.S. Military Death Penalty.

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