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Philippe Paris

Philippe Paris (1879 - 1916) was a French Army corporal who served in Colonel Nicolas Dax's 701st Infantry Regiment during World War I. He was classmates with Lieutenant Maurice Roget, and Roget disliked Paris because he felt that Paris never gave him enough respect. In 1916, he, Roget, and Private David Lejeune were sent to scout out the German position at "the Anthill", but, during the scouting mission, Roget accidentally killed Lejeune with a grenade in a friendly fire incident, and he denied any wrongdoing and falsified the report on his return to base.

When, after the costly Battle of the Anthill, Major-General Paul Mireau demanded that three men from the regiment be charged with cowardice and executed to send a message to the others, Roget - hoping to cover up his own crimes - selected Paris to accompany Maurice Ferol and Pierre Arnaud as the tried soldiers. Despite a spirited defense by Colonel Nicolas Dax at their court-martial, they were sentenced to death by firing squad.

Before his execution, Paris - despite saying that he was not religious, and that praying before his death would be hypocritical - gave his confession to Father Emile Dupree and fractured Arnaud's skull with a punch to the head after a drunk Arnaud attempted to attack Father Dupree. At his execution, Paris refused to wear a blindfold, facing his executioners (led by Roget) with his naked eyes before being shot along with the others.

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