Dedication of Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland (2 parts) (Speech File 1427) of August 31, 1942

Extracted text

OCR Page 1 of 72
2357 FOR THE PRESS DOEDIATE RELEASE AUGUST 8, 1942 1:20 P.M., E.E.T. The President completed his review of the findings and sentences of the Military Commission appointed by him cn July 2, 1942 which tried the eight Nazi saboteurs. The President approved the judgment of the Military Commission that all of the prisoners were guilty and that they be given the death sentence by electrocution. However, there was a unanimous recomsendation by the Commission, concurred in by the Attorney General and the Judge Advocate General of the Arny, that the sentence of two of the prisoners be commated to life imprisonment because of their assistance to the Government of the United States in the ap- prehension and conviction of the others. The commutation directed by the President in the case of Burger was to confinement at hard labor for life. In the case of Dasch, the sentence was commuted by the President to confinement at hard labor for thirty years. The electrocutions began at noon today. Six of the prisoners were electrocuted, The other two were confined to prison. The records in all eight cases will be sealed until the end of the wer.