2. The applicant requests that his bad conduct discharge (BCD) be upgraded to honorable. He states that all of his troubles stemmed from his serious abdominal wound which he received in combat during the Korean Conflict.
3. The applicant's military records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973. Information herein was obtained from his records of a formal hearing before this Board in October 1955.
4. The applicant was born on 2 October 1932 and enlisted in the Regular Army on 19 July 1950. He was 17 years of age, had 8 years of formal education, and an AFQT (Armed Forces Qualification Test) score of 19. Upon completion of the required military training, he was sent to Korea, arriving there on 6 April 1951. On 14 October 1951, he was wounded in the abdomen, arm and leg by grenade fragments. His stomach wound required several operations because of adhesions and bowel stoppage.
5. The applicant was evacuated to Camp Atterbury, Indiana, for medical treatment and rehabilitation. During this period, he claims that he had little to do and started going absent without leave (AWOL). Ultimately, he had nine periods of AWOL totaling 163 days (all but one occurring while at Camp Atterbury). He was tried and convicted by two summary courts-martial and two special courts-martial for these offenses.
6. On 12 March 1953, while performing duties as an assistant mail carrier, he stole $200 and went AWOL. When he returned to military control, he was tried and convicted by a general court-martial and sentenced to a BCD, total forfeiture of all pay and allowances for 6 months, and confinement at hard labor for 6 months even though he repaid the $200 he had taken. The BCD was suspended. When he was released from confinement, he again went AWOL. Upon his return, the suspension was lifted and the BCD was executed. He was discharged on 12 December 1953.
7. He petitioned this Board for a disability pension or a return to active duty. In October 1955 in a formal hearing, the applicant appeared without counsel. The Board learned that the applicants abdominal wounds were so severe that a contemplated transfer from confinement to a Rehabilitation Center was disapproved; however, the stockade physician found him to be fit for duty to a limited extent. The Board asked the applicant why he went AWOL so many times while at Camp Atterbury and he indicated that he was just laying around with nothing to do and got bored and left. After hearing the applicants testimony and reviewing his military records, the Board voted 3 to 2 to deny his request.
8. The Military Justice Act of 1983 (Public Law 98-209), provides, in pertinent part, that military correction boards may not disturb the finality of a conviction by court-martial
CONCLUSIONS:
1. While the Board cannot, by law, disturb the finality of a court-martial conviction, it can mitigate the punishment when deemed appropriate. In this situation, the documented evidence, as well as the applicant's record, justifies mitigation. It would, therefore, be unjust and inequitable, after more than 40 years, to continue to cause the applicant to suffer the stigma of a BCD.
2. The applicant served well in combat and was severely wounded. Faced with the inactivity of medical recuperation at Camp Atterbury, he went AWOL.
3. The applicant was withheld from rehabilitation training because he was unfit for such duty; however, he was found to be fit enough for duty to serve his time in the stockade.
4. Given the minor nature of most of his offenses (AWOL) and the fact that he immediately repaid the money he stole, and taking into consideration his combat service, it would be appropriate to correct the applicant's records as recommended below:
RECOMMENDATION:
1. That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by issuing to the individual concerned a general discharge, dated 12 December 1953, in lieu of the BCD of the same date, now held by him.
2. That so much of the application as is in excess of the foregoing be denied.
BOARD VOTE:
GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION
GRANT FORMAL HEARING
DENY APPLICATION
CHAIRPERSON
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