| Mr. Carl W. S. Chun | Director | |
| Mr. Edmund P. Mercanti | Analyst |
| Ms. Kathleen A. Newman | Chairperson | |
| Ms. Gail J. Wire | Member | |
| Mr. Patrick H. McGann | Member |
2. The applicant requests that Item 6, Organization, of his WD AGO Form 53-55, Enlisted Record and Report of Separation Honorable Discharge, be corrected from reading “Company B, 52nd Armored Infantry Battalion,” to “26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Platoon.”
3. The applicant states he was awarded the Silver Star (SS), the Bronze Star Medal (BSM), and the Purple Heart (PH) while assigned to the 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Platoon. He adds that he never served with Company B, 52nd Armored Infantry Battalion.
4. The applicant’s military records could not be located with the exception of his WD AGO Form 53-55, and are presumed to have been destroyed in the fire at the records repository at St. Louis, Missouri, in 1973.
5. He was inducted and entered on active duty on 16 April 1942. He was awarded the military occupational specialty of heavy machine gunner and was promoted to the rank of private first class.
6. He served in the European Theater of Operations from 1 November 1944 to 13 October 1945.
7. He was honorably released from active duty on 27 October 1945. His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he was awarded the SS, the PH, the Good Conduct Medal, and the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal. Item 32 of this form, Battles and Campaigns, has the Rhineland and Ardennes campaigns entered.
8. Technical Manual 12-235, Discharge Procedures and Preparation of Separation Forms, in effect at the time, provides in paragraph 24, that item 6 of the WD AGO Form 53-55, Organization, be completed as follows: “Enter the last unit, or similar element to which he was assigned, rather than the element of which he was a part while moving to a separation activity. Assignments to units for purpose of transfer from a theater to the United States are considered part of the movement to a separation activity.”
9. Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides the guidance for Army awards and decorations. In this regulation several awards and decorations are provided specifically for service during WWII which were enacted subsequent to the demobilization of WWII. These WWII specific provisions include award of the BSM for each individual who was cited in orders or awarded a certificate for exemplary conduct in ground combat between 7 December 1941 and 2 September 1945 or where such achievement or service, during the period, was confirmed by documents executed prior to 1 July 1947. An award of the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) is considered to be a citation in orders. This means, in effect, that the BSM's were awarded to individuals who were authorized the CIB for service during WWII.
10. Another WWII specific award is the WWII Victory Medal which is awarded for service between 7 December 1941 and 31 December 1946, both dates inclusive, and the Honorable Service Lapel Button.
11. War Department Circular 269-1943 established the CIB and the Expert Infantryman Badge (EIB) to recognize and provide an incentive to infantrymen. The EIB was to be awarded for attainment of certain proficiency standards or by satisfactory performance of duty in action against the enemy. The CIB was awarded for exemplary conduct in action against the enemy. War Department Circular 186-1944 further provided that the CIB was to be awarded only to infantrymen serving with infantry units of brigade, regimental or smaller size. Additionally, World War II holders of the CIB received a monthly pay supplement known as combat infantry pay.
12. The Awards Branch, Total Army Personnel Command, has advised in similar cases that, during World War II, the CIB was normally awarded only to enlisted individuals who served in the following positions:
a. Light machine gunner (604)
b. Heavy machine gunner (605)
c. Platoon sergeant (651)
d. Squad leader (653)
e. Rifleman (745)
f. Automatic rifleman (746)
g. Heavy weapons NCO (812)
h. Gun crewman (864)
13. Army Regulation 600-8-22 also authorizes the American Campaign Medal to be awarded for service in the American Theater between 7 December 1941 and 2 March 1946.
14. In the processing of this case, the General Orders of the 26th Infantry Regiment were reviewed and the applicant’s SS orders were located. In those orders it was shown that the applicant was assigned to Company H, 26th Infantry Regiment.
15. Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-1, Unit Citation and Campaign Credit Register, shows that the 26th Infantry Regiment was credited with service in the Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe, and Rhineland Campaigns. This pamphlet also shows that the applicant's unit was awarded the Belgian Fourragere and was given occupation credit, Germany, for the period in which the applicant was assigned.
CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant’s SS orders verifies that he served in the 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Platoon. It would appear that he was only assigned to Company B, 52nd Armored Infantry Battalion, for movement back to the United States. As such, in accordance with regulations in effect at the time, Item 6, Organization, of the applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55, should have had the 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Platoon, entered.
2. The applicant should also have been awarded the CIB since he had an MOS which warranted that qualification badge, and was assigned to an infantry unit of appropriate size.
3. If the applicant is to be awarded the CIB, he is also entitled to the BSM based upon the laws and regulations governing WWII veterans.
4. The applicant is also entitled to the American Campaign Medal since he served in the United States for over a year.
5. He is also entitled to the WWII Victory Medal.
6. He is also entitled to three bronze service stars to his European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal.
7. Finally, he is entitled to the Army of Occupation Medal, Germany.
8. 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:
a. showing that Item 6, Organization, of the individual concerned, was then 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Platoon;
b. awarding him the CIB, the BSM, the American Campaign Medal, the WWII Victory Medal; the Army of Occupation Medal, Germany, and three bronze service stars to his European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal;
c. adding these awards to his WD AGO Form 53-55; and
d. adding the Central Europe Campaign to Item 32, Battles and Campaigns, of the applicant's separation document.
BOARD VOTE:
____gjw_ ___phm__ ___kaw__ GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION
__________Kathleen A. Newman_____
CHAIRPERSON
| CASE ID | AR2002073404 |
| SUFFIX | |
| RECON | YYYYMMDD |
| DATE BOARDED | 20020123 |
| 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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