Pvt. Slovik Reburied Beside Wife in Detroit to Fulfill Her Dying Wish

A clutch of tiny U.S. flags and a spray of red, white and blue flowers lay atop the coffin Saturday as Pvt. Eddie Slovik, the only U.S. soldier executed for desertion since the Civil War, was buried in American soil.

About 45 relatives, friends and compassionate strangers stood under a hot sun as Slovik’s remains were laid to rest next to those of his wife, Antoinette, in a Roman Catholic burial rite conducted in English and Polish.

Mrs. Slovik’s dying wish in 1979 was that the World War II soldier be returned from the ignominy of a numbered grave in France.

Two of Slovik’s three sisters, Anna Kadlubowski and Margaret Sobolewski, participated in the ceremony at Woodmere Cemetery.

“I’m just glad my brother is here,” said Sobolewski, 70. “It’s been on my mind for a long time. I’m happy it’s finally over with.”

After Kadlubowski put a bouquet of red roses on the coffin and a few mourners added the flags, the coffin was lowered into the ground. Slovik’s headstone reads: “Honor and Justice Prevailed.”

Even Slovik’s return home was marred. His remains were to arrive in Detroit on Thursday, but the arrival was delayed by 21 hours when they were routed on a flight to San Francisco.

Slovik was 24 when he was shot by a firing squad on Jan. 31, 1945, and buried among the graves of 94 other U.S. soldiers hanged for charges that included rape and murder.

There were more than 40,000 desertion cases during World War II and death sentences were handed down in 49 of those cases, but Slovik was the only soldier to face the firing squad.