PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           1 October 2002
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2002075964

	I certify that hereinafter is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in the case of the above-named individual.  

	Mr. Carl W. S. Chun		Director	
	Ms. Nancy L. Amos		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Raymond V. O’Connor, Jr.		Chairperson	
	Ms. Margaret K. Patterson		Member	
	Mr. Arthur A. Omartian		Member	

	The applicant and counsel if any, did not appear before the Board.

	The Board considered the following evidence:

	Exhibit A - Application for correction of military 
records
	Exhibit B - Military Personnel Records (including
advisory opinion, if any)

FINDINGS:

1.  The applicant has exhausted or the Board has waived the requirement for exhaustion of all administrative remedies afforded by existing law or regulations.

2.  The applicant requests that his Enlisted Record and Report of Separation, WD AGO Form 53-55, be amended to add the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) and the Bronze Star Medal (BSM) and to show he was assigned to Company C, 370th Infantry, 92d Division.

3.  The applicant states that he was in a segregated unit and the failure to add the CIB and the BSM may have been an oversight.

4.  The applicant’s military records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire in 1973.  Information contained herein was obtained from alternate sources.

5.  The applicant was inducted into the Army on 23 November 1942 and entered active service on 30 November 1942.  He arrived in the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater of Operations on 29 July 1944.  He departed on 16 November 1945 after being credited with three campaigns.  He separated on 4 December 1945.  His WD AGO Form 53-55, item 6 shows his organization as Company C, 370th Infantry.  Item 33 shows he was awarded the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater Service Medal (now known as the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal) with no bronze service stars.

6.  The applicant's final payment work sheet, WD Form 372A, shows he was paid combat infantryman pay from 1 September - 4 December 1945 in the amount of $31.33.

7.  War Department Circular Number 408, Expert and Combat Infantryman Badges, Award, and Additional Pay, dated 17 October 1944 cited Public Law 393, 78th Congress, approved 30 June 1944 which provided that during the war and for 6 months thereafter any enlisted man of the combat ground forces of the Army who was entitled to wear the Expert Infantryman Badge or the CIB would be paid additional compensation at the rate of $5 per month when he was entitled to wear the Expert Infantryman Badge and at the rate of $10 per month when he was entitled to wear the CIB. 

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides for award of the BSM to members of the armed forces who, after 6 December 1941 and prior to 3 September 1945, have been cited in orders or in a formal certificate for meritorious or exemplary conduct in ground combat against the armed enemy.  A citation in orders for the Combat Infantryman Badge or Medical Badge awarded in the field during the period of actual combat against the armed enemy is considered as a citation for exemplary conduct in ground combat.  It also provides for the wear of one bronze service star on the appropriate campaign or service medal for each credited campaign.

9.  Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-1 verifies that the 370th Infantry was in the 92d Division.
CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence of record shows that the applicant was paid combat infantryman pay at the rate of $10 per month for the period 1 September through 4 December 1945.  He would not have been authorized this pay, at that rate, unless he had been entitled to wear the CIB.

2.  Because there is sufficient evidence of record to show the applicant was entitled to wear the CIB, he is entitled to award of the BSM based upon the award of the CIB.  He is also entitled to wear three bronze service stars on the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal.

3.  The applicant is requesting a minor correction to item 6 of his WD AGO 53-55 to add the 92d Division.  As the 370th Infantry was part of the 92d Division, it would be appropriate to make this minor correction at this time.

4.  In view of the foregoing, the applicant’s records should be corrected as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

1.  That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by awarding the applicant the Combat Infantryman Badge and the Bronze Star Medal.

2.  That the applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 be amended to add the Combat Infantryman Badge and the Bronze Star Medal, to show he is authorized to wear three bronze service stars with the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and to show his organization as Company C, 370th Infantry, 92d Division.

BOARD VOTE:  

__RVO__  __MKP  _  __AAO __  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		__Raymond V. O’Connor, Jr.  _
		          CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2002075964	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	2002/10/01	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.0110	
2.	107.0014	
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.