RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:            27 MAY 2004
      DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2003097406


      I certify that hereinafter is recorded the true and complete record
of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in
the case of the above-named individual.

|     |Mr. Carl W. S. Chun               |     |Director             |
|     |Ms. Deborah L. Brantley           |     |Senior Analyst       |


  The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. Melvin Meyer                  |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Ms. Regan Smith                   |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Thomas O'Shaughnessy          |     |Member               |

      The applicant and counsel if any, did not appear before the Board.

      The Board considered the following evidence:

      Exhibit A - Application for correction of military records.

      Exhibit B - Military Personnel Records (including advisory opinion,
if any).

THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant requests that the records of his father, a deceased Army
officer, be corrected to show that his unit of assignment at the time of
his death was the 61st Field Artillery Regiment (Philippine Army) and not
the 23rd Field Artillery Regiment (Philippine Scouts).

2.  The applicant states he has been attempting to have the inscription on
the “Tablets of the Missing” in the Manila American Cemetery corrected,
without success.  He states that the American Battle Monuments Commission,
who maintains the cemetery, will change the unit information if they
receive documentation which confirms that current inscription is incorrect.

3.  The applicant states that his father was never assigned to the 23rd
Field Artillery Regiment.  Rather he was assigned to the 61st Field
Artillery Regiment beginning in November 1941 when he was “sent to the
Island of Panay to organize that regiment” and remained assigned to that
regiment until the “surrender to the Japanese on the Island of Mindanao” on
10 May 1942.

4.  In support of his request he submits a copy of a 1946 letter from the
commanding officer of Camp Joseph T. Robinson, in Arkansas, to his mother,
inviting her to attend a ceremony to receive the Silver Star and
Distinguished Service Cross that was awarded to his father for actions on 5
and 9 May 1942.  He also submits at December 1945 letter from an officer
the applicant states was the commanding officer of the 61st Field Artillery
Regiment at the time the surrender took place and notes that letter refers
to his father as the commanding officer’s “close friend and Executive
Officer” and that he (the commanding officer) was the one who recommended
his father for the Distinguished Service Cross.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  There were no military personnel files pertaining to the deceased Army
officer which were available to the Board, beyond the documents submitted
by the applicant.  With the exception of the 1946 letter from the
commanding officer of Camp Joseph T. Robinson and the 1945 letter to the
applicant’s mother, the remaining documents submitted by the applicant were
provided to him by officials at the former United States Total Army
Personnel Command who maintain the Individual Deceased Personnel Files for
personnel who were killed while overseas during World War II.

2.  A 12 November 1945 typed casualty report states that the former service
member died on 25 January 1945 while enroute to Japan.  The document
indicates that he was assigned to Headquarters, 23rd Field Artillery
Regiment and that the casualty information came from a 22 October 1945
letter to the Armed Forces Pacific Command; subject “Review and
Determination of the Status of [the former service member]…Headquarters,
23rd Field Artillery Regiment.”

3.  A 4 September 1946 War Department Report of Death Form notes:

      The individual named in this report of death is held by the War
      Department to have been in a beleaguered status from 8 Dec 41 to and
      including
      6 May 42, (Section 14, Public Law 490) and absent in a missing in
      action status on and subsequent to 7 May 42 and until such absence was
      terminated by a report from the Japanese Government through the
      International Red Cross of a prisoner of war status on 13 May 1943.
      The prisoner of war status was terminated on 30 Aug 45, on which date
      evidence considered sufficient to establish the fact of death on 28
      Jan 45 was received by the Secretary of War from the Japanese
      Government through the International Red Cross.

4.  The War Department Report of Death Form indicates the former service
member entered active service on “1 Oct 42” and that his cause of death was
“acute colitis.”  That form does not reflect a unit of assignment at the
time of death but does indicate he was a member of the Field Artillery
branch.

5.  An undated, partially typed and partially handwritten, “data of remains
not yet recovered or identified” form, which contains a file date of 23
September 1948, contains the typed notation “FA” (field artillery) and a
hand written entry “61st F.A. (P.A.)” in the organization block of that
form.  It also lists the former service member’s date of death as 25
January 1945.

6.  The December 1945 letter, from the individual the applicant states was
commander of the 61st Field Artillery Regiment (Philippine Army) was
addressed to the applicant’s mother.  It states that the former service
member “not only was my friend he was my executive officer during the dark
days of the Philippines prior to the surrender.”  The letter indicated that
the former service member had been wounded in action “in the vicinity of
Dalirig, Mindanao on the afternoon 9th May 1942” but recovered fully from
those wounds “and was in as good health and spirits as possible under
existing circumstances when I [the author] was forced to leave him at the
prison camp at Malaybalay on September 6, 1942.”  He states that it was his
“pleasure to have recommended [the former servicemember] for the award of
the Distinguished Service Cross for heroism above and beyond the call of
duty in a fight against the Japanese on the late afternoon 9th May 1942.”
The letter does not identify the unit the author was assigned to.

7.  The April 1946 letter from the commanding officer of Camp Joseph T.
Robinson to the applicant’s mother contained the award citations associated
with the former service member’s Distinguished Service Cross and Silver
Star.  Both citations indicate that former service member was the
“Executive Officer, 61st Field Artillery, Philippine Army” during actions
on 5 May and 9 May 1942 for which he was recommended for the awards.

8.  Information contained in publications from the Center for Military
History indicate that on 4 November 1941 General MacArthur formally
established the North and South Luzon Forces and the Visayan-Mindanao
Force, “all of which had actually been in existence for several months
already.”  One battery of the 23rd Field Artillery (Philippine Scouts), a
United States Army unit was part of the North Luzon Force while the 61st
Division of the Philippine Army was part of the Visayan-Mindanao Force.
The defense of the southern Philippines was entrusted to the Visayan-
Mindanao Force, commanded by Colonel (later Major General) William F.
Sharp.  This force consisted of the equivalent of four Philippine Reserve
divisions and a regiment of Constabulary troops; it had practically no
artillery.

9.  While documents from the Center for Military History do make reference
to the 23rd Field Artillery Regiment (Philippine Scout), there are no
references to the 61st Field Artillery Regiment (Philippine Army).

10.  A review of historical files maintained by the National Archives in
College Park Maryland failed to confirm the former service member’s unit of
assignment while in the Philippines.  Although the former service member’s
name was among a list of individuals, listing the names of those in
Philippines in March 1942, that roster did not identify units of
assignment.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Unfortunately there is no evidence which conclusively proves the name
of the unit to which the former service member was assigned at the time of
his death in 1945.  Even official military documents published at time
contain conflicting information.

2.  The fact that the former service member’s award citation reflects his
duty position as the “Executive Officer” of the “61st Field Artillery
(Philippine Army) is not, in and of itself sufficient verification.  It is
possible that reference was merely an unofficial designation associated
with the 61st Division (Philippine Army) as the 61st Division can be
confirmed as part of the forces assigned on Mindanao, while the 61st Field
Artillery can not be confirmed.

3.  The most official document, which is available to the Board, is the
typed casualty report, prepared on 12 November 1945, which records the
former service member’s unit of assignment as the 23rd Field Artillery
Regiment.  In the absence of conclusive proof to establish with certainty
the former service member’s unit of assignment at the time of his death it
would be imprudent to correct his record in such a way that would require
the expenditure of funds by the American Battle Monuments Commission at
this time.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

__MM___  __RS ___  ___TO __  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

The evidence presented does not demonstrate the existence of a probable
error or injustice.  Therefore, the Board determined that the overall
merits of this case are insufficient as a basis for correction of the
records of the individual concerned.





            _____Melvin Meyer_______
                    CHAIRPERSON




                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR2003097406                            |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20040527                                |
|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.       |110.00                                  |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |