| Mr. Carl W. S. Chun | Director | |
| Mr. Edmund P. Mercanti | Analyst |
| Ms. Margaret K. Patterson | Chairperson | |
| Mr. Thomas B. Redfern | Member | |
| Ms. Regan K. Smith | Member |
2. The applicant, a veteran service representative submitting a request in behalf to the former service member’s (FSM’s) next of kin, requests that the FSM be awarded the Prisoner of War (POW) medal.
3. The applicant states that the FSM was captured by the enemy and died while a POW. The FSM was listed as missing in action (MIA), but subsequent eyewitness accounts established that he was captured by the Chinese.
4. The FSM’s military records could not be located and are presumed to have been destroyed in the fire at the records repository at St. Louis, Missouri, in 1973. The following information was derived from documents submitted by the applicant himself.
5. The FSM was an infantry sergeant serving in Korea during the Korean War. He was reported as missing in action on 24 April 1951 and was presumed dead on 16 March 1954.
6. In a letter from the (then) Reserve Components Personnel and Administration Center (RCPAC) dated 21 March 1973, to a member of Congress, the RCPAC stated that the FSM was reported as MIA after he was last seen in a defensive position during a heavy enemy attack. The FSM’s company was overrun by enemy forces and forced to withdraw to new positions. When the company was reorganized after the withdrawal, the FSM could not be located. The RCPAC continued that when the Korean War POW’s were released, the POW’s that served with the FSM were questioned and one soldier stated that he knew that the FSM had been captured by the enemy, but had been separated from him in the POW camp and never saw or heard from him again.
7. In the statement made by the former POW, he said that the FSM had passed out on the road to the mining camp. He had dysentery at the time. The former POW never heard or saw the FSM again. The former POW stated that he didn’t know whether the FSM was dead or alive.
8. The POW Medal was authorized on 8 November 1985 and is awarded to individuals who in past armed conflicts were taken prisoner or held captive. Past conflict in this instance means only World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Hostages of terrorists and persons held by governments with which the United States is not engaged in armed conflict are not eligible.
CONCLUSIONS:
1. The statement made by the former POW who served with the FSM makes it clear that the FSM was, indeed, a POW prior to his presumption of death. As such, it would be appropriate to award him the POW Medal.
2. In view of the foregoing, the applicant’s records should be corrected as recommended below.
RECOMMENDATION:
That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by awarding to the individual concerned the POW Medal.
BOARD VOTE:
__mkp___ ___tbr___ ____rks_ GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION
_________Margaret K. Patterson__
CHAIRPERSON
| CASE ID | AR2001055643 |
| SUFFIX | |
| RECON | YYYYMMDD |
| DATE BOARDED | 20010807 |
| TYPE OF DISCHARGE | (HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR) |
| DATE OF DISCHARGE | YYYYMMDD |
| DISCHARGE AUTHORITY | AR . . . . . |
| DISCHARGE REASON | |
| BOARD DECISION | GRANT |
| REVIEW AUTHORITY | |
| ISSUES 1. | 107.00 |
| 2. | |
| 3. | |
| 4. | |
| 5. | |
| 6. |
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