| Mr. Carl W. S. Chun | Director | |
| Mr. Walter Avery, Jr. | Analyst |
| Ms. Jennifer L. Prater | Chairperson | |
| Mr. Melvin H. Meyer | Member | |
| Ms. Regan K. Smith | Member |
APPLICANT REQUESTS: That his military records be corrected to show he was a prisoner of war (POW).
APPLICANT STATES: That on or about 13 May 1944, the enemy took him and another soldier prisoner for approximately 28 days, before they escaped.
In support of his request, he submits a copy of a newspaper article, personal letters, supporting statements, and his Enlisted Records and Report of Separation document. The newspaper article reported that he was a POW for 10 days. He explains that the article incorrectly reported he was a POW for 10 days; he says that he was a POW for 28 days. In a personal letter to his father, he wrote that he was a POW for 28 days. A comrade of the applicant’s provides another letter in which he recalls that the applicant and another soldier disappeared while on a search patrol around 20 May 1944. After an absence, he returned to the unit and was surprised to find that the applicant had been returned to the company. He recalls that there was much curiosity about how the enemy had treated the applicant and other POWs. In another letter, an individual who identifies himself as the soldier captured along with the applicant, says the fact he was a POW is not reflected on his discharge document either, but recalls that they were both captured for 28 days.
EVIDENCE OF RECORD: The applicant's military records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) fire of 1973. Information herein was derived from documents provided by the applicant and other sources.
His separation document indicates he was inducted on 30 November 1942, trained as a gunner, light-mortar, and served in the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater and was honorably separated at demobilization on 12 November 1945. The awards reflected are the Good Conduct Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with three bronze service stars, the Bronze Star Medal, the American Theater Ribbon, the World War II Victory Ribbon, and the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB).
On 24 January 1980, the NPRC reported that they had made a search of morning reports for Company G, 337th Infantry (the applicant’s unit of assignment during World War II) for the period of May to August 1944. The applicant’s name and duty status was found on an August 1944 morning report, however, no entry was located that reflected the applicant as a POW.
On 4 September 1985, the NPRC responded to a congressional inquiry, regarding the applicant’s POW status. It stated that after an exhaustive search of such sources as morning reports, records of the Foreign Claims Commission, records of the National Archives and their own prisoner of war tapes, no record was found to show that the applicant was a prisoner of war.
Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides for award of the POW Medal. It states, in pertinent part, that 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.
The same regulation provides that subsequent to the cessation of hostilities during WWII the regulation governing the award of the Bronze Star Medal was changed, in part, to provide for the award of this decoration to those individuals who had been awarded the CIB for meritorious achievement in ground combat against the armed enemy between 7 December 1941 and 2 September 1945.
DISCUSSION: Considering all the evidence, allegations, and information presented by the applicant, together with the evidence of record, applicable law and regulations, it is concluded:
1. The Board considered the letters and newspaper articles submitted by the applicant. However, while they provide some level of evidence and information, without verification from an official source these documents are insufficient as a basis to officially declare that the applicant was a POW.
2. Notwithstanding the denial of his request for POW status, his records substantiate that he is entitled to a second award of the Bronze Star Medal (based on his award of the CIB). The Army Review Boards Agency Support Division, St. Louis will be requested to add these awards to his separation document.
3. In order to justify correction of a military record the applicant must show to the satisfaction of the Board, or it must otherwise satisfactorily appear, that the record is in error or unjust. The applicant has failed to submit evidence that would satisfy this requirement.
4. In view of the foregoing, there is no basis for granting the applicant's request.
DETERMINATION: The applicant has failed to submit sufficient relevant evidence to demonstrate the existence of probable error or injustice.
NOTE: The Army Review Boards Agency Support Division, St. Louis is requested to correct the applicant’s separation record to show that he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with first oak leaf cluster based on award of the CIB.
BOARD VOTE:
________ ________ ________ GRANT
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
__mhm __ ___rks __ __jlp ____ DENY APPLICATION
| CASE ID | AR2001057715 |
| SUFFIX | |
| RECON | YYYYMMDD |
| DATE BOARDED | 20011120 |
| TYPE OF DISCHARGE | (HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR) |
| DATE OF DISCHARGE | YYYYMMDD |
| DISCHARGE AUTHORITY | AR . . . . . |
| DISCHARGE REASON | |
| BOARD DECISION | DENY |
| REVIEW AUTHORITY | |
| ISSUES 1. 107 | 130 |
| 2. | |
| 3. | |
| 4. | |
| 5. | |
| 6. |
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