| Mr. Carl W. S. Chun | Director | |
| Mr. Walter Avery, Jr. | Analyst |
| Ms. Karol A. Kennedy | Chairperson | |
| Mr. Melvin H. Meyer | Member | |
| Ms. Tracey L. Pinson | Member |
2. The applicant requests correction of his records to reflect a promotion from staff sergeant to technical sergeant based on prisoner of war (POW) status.
3. The applicant states that based on his understanding and his knowledge of the promotion of other World War (WW) II POWs, he should be promoted to technical sergeant.
4. In support of his request he submits a copy of a letter from the War Claims Commission, which reflects that the applicant was interned from 13 October 1944 through 31 January 1945. He also provided copies of his discharge documents.
5. The applicant’s military records were lost or destroyed in the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri, which destroyed millions of service records. However, the WD AGO Form 53-55 shows that he was inducted on 23 November 1942 and arrived in the European Theater of Operations on 27 November 1943. He participated in the Naple-Foggia, Rome-Arno and Southern France Campaigns. He was promoted to the rank of staff sergeant and was separated on 1 November 1945.
6. His WD AGO 53-55 reflects that he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge, the American Theater Ribbon, the Good Conduct Medal, and the European-African-Middle-Eastern Theater Ribbon with three Bronze Battle Stars. Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) contains the entry "14 Feb 44 Italy."
7. Department of the Army announced, via message on 21 September 1945, that enlisted soldiers below the grade of master sergeant who had been absent from military control, under honorable conditions, for eighteen months or longer in a POW status and had not received a one grade promotion since returning to military control could be advanced one grade by their immediate commander.
8. Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained as a result of hostile action. Substantiating evidence must be provided to verify that the wound was the result of hostile action, the wound must have required treatment, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
9. The same regulation provides that:
a. 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.
b. the Bronze Star Medal is awarded for heroism and for meritorious achievement or service in military operations against an armed enemy. The Bronze Star Medal is authorized 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 whose achievement or service, during that period, was confirmed by documents executed prior to 1 July 1947. An award of the Combat Infantryman Badge or the Combat Medical Badge is considered to be a citation in orders. This means, in effect, that the Bronze Star Medal is to be awarded to individuals who were authorized either badge for service during WW II.
c. the “arrowhead” to be worn on the appropriate service medal to denote participation in a combat parachute jump, helicopter assault landing, combat glider landing, or amphibious assault landing while assigned or attached as a member of an organized force carrying out an assigned tactical mission. The regulation specifies that individual assault credit is tied directly to the combat assault credit decision for the unit to which the soldier is assigned. The regulation requires that the unit must be credited with a combat assault in order for the soldiers to receive credit for a combat assault and the soldier must physically exit the aircraft or the watercraft as appropriate. The regulation also specifies that the arrowhead is authorized for wear on the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the Korean Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, and the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal.
10. Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-1 (Unit Citation and Campaign Participation Credit Register) shows the unit to which the applicant was assigned, the 179th Infantry, 45th Infantry Division was awarded occupation credit for Germany for the period 2 May through 5 July 1945 and assault landing credit for four separate assault landings during the period 9 July 1943 through 16 August 1944.
CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant was a POW for a period of less than eighteen months and was therefore not eligible for promotion based on POW status.
2. The entry "14 Feb 44 Italy" in the Wounds Received in Action of the applicant's WD AGO 53-55 is evidence that he is entitled to award of the Purple Heart and to have his records corrected to reflect the award.
3. In reviewing his case it was noted that he should be awarded the Bronze Star Medal based on his award of the Combat Infantryman Badge, the POW Medal, the Army of Occupation Medal with Germany clasp, and the Arrowhead Device to be worn on his European-African-Middle-Eastern Theater Ribbon, and is entitled to a correction of his records to show these awards.
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:
a. awarding the individual concerned the Purple Heart for wounds received in Italy on 14 February 1944;
b. awarding the applicant the Bronze Star Medal based on award of the Combat Infantryman Badge; and
c. awarding the applicant the POW Medal, the Army Occupation Medal with Germany clasp and the Arrowhead Device to be worn on his European- African-Middle-Eastern Theater Ribbon.
2. That so much of the application as is in excess of the foregoing be denied.
BOARD VOTE:
___mhm_ ____kak_ ____tlp__ GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION
__________Karol A. Kennedy_______
CHAIRPERSON
| CASE ID | AR2002077102 |
| SUFFIX | |
| RECON | YYYYMMDD |
| DATE BOARDED | 20020128 |
| 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. 131.06 | |
| 2. | |
| 3. | |
| 4. | |
| 5. | |
| 6. |
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