RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:           08 JULY 2004
      DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2003097461


      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:

|     |Ms. Kathleen Newman               |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Ms. Gail Wire                     |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. William Powers                |     |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 unit of assignment on his World War II
separation document be corrected to show that he was assigned to Company A,
109th Engineer Combat Battalion, 34th Infantry vice Company C, 310th
Engineer Combat Battalion.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that he never served with the 310th
Engineer Combat Battalion and wants the information corrected to
“accurately record the unit [he] served with.”

3.  The applicant provides copies of various orders showing his assignment
to the 109th Engineer Combat Battalion.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of alleged error or injustice
which occurred on 31 August 1945.  The application submitted in this case
is dated
16 July 2003.

2.  Title 10, U.S. Code, Section 1552(b), provides that applications for
correction of military records must be filed within 3 years after discovery
of the alleged error or injustice.  This provision of law allows the Army
Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) to excuse failure to file
within the 3-year statute of limitation if the ABCMR determines that it
would be in the interest of justice to do so.  In this case, the ABCMR will
conduct a review of the merits of the case to determine if it would be in
the interest of justice to excuse the applicant’s failure to timely file.

3.  The applicant’s military records are not available to the Board for
review.  A fire destroyed approximately 18 million service members’ records
at the National Personnel Records Center in 1973.  It is believed that the
applicant’s records were lost or destroyed in that fire.  However, there
were sufficient documents remaining in a reconstructed record for the Board
to conduct a fair and impartial review of this case.

4.  The applicant’s separation document indicates that he entered active
duty in April 1941 and served an initial tour of duty in the European
Theater of Operations between January 1942 and August 1944.

5.  Included with the orders provided by the applicant in support of his
request were promotion orders and a Bronze Star Medal order, which were
issued during the applicant’s initial tour of duty in Europe.  Those orders
show that the applicant was assigned to Company A, 109th Engineer Combat
Battalion, part of the 34th Infantry.

6.  In November 1944 the applicant returned to the European Theater of
Operation.  A May 1945 promotion order again confirms that the applicant
was assigned to Company A, 109th Engineer Combat Battalion during his
second tour of duty in Europe.  There were no orders available to the Board
beyond the May 1945 order.

7.  The applicant’s separation document indicates that he returned to the
United States in August 1945 and was honorably discharged on 31 August
1945.  His unit of assignment, at the time of his discharge, is recorded as
Company C, 310th Engineer Combat Battalion, which was part of the 85th
Infantry.

8.  Technical Manual 12-235, which prescribed the policy and procedures for
the preparation and distribution of separation documents during the period
in question, states that the last unit, or similar element to which the
individual was assigned, rather than the element of which he was a part
while moving to a separation activity will be entered in item 6
(organization) of the War Department Adjutant General Office (WD AGO) Form
53-55 (separation report).  It also notes that assignments to units for the
purpose of transfer from a theater to the United States are considered part
of the movement to a separation activity.

9.  Information obtained from the Center for Military History notes that
units of the 34th Infantry, which included the 109th Engineer Combat
Battalion, did not return to the United States until November 1945, while
units of the 85th Infantry, which included the 310th Engineer Combat
Battalion, returned to the United States in August 1945.  Both divisions
were in Italy prior to returning to the United States.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Although there were no orders available to the Board, beyond the May
1945 order, which confirmed that the applicant was assigned to Company A,
109th Engineer Combat Battalion, there is sufficient compelling evidence to
conclude that the 310th Engineer Combat Battalion was likely a transitional
unit based on the short period of time between his departure from the
overseas theater and his separation from active duty.

2.  The fact that units of the 310th departed Europe in August 1945, which
coincided with the applicant’s departure, and the fact that the 34th
Infantry did not depart Europe until November 1945, further supports the
conclusion that the 310th Engineer Combat Battalion was likely the unit the
applicant returned to the United States with solely for the purpose of
separation processing.

3.  In the interest of justice and equity, it would be appropriate to
correct the applicant’s separation document to show assignment to Company
A, 109th Engineer Combat Battalion, 34th Infantry, vice Company C, 310th
Engineer Combat Battalion.
BOARD VOTE:

__KN ___  __GW___  __WP___  GRANT RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to warrant
a recommendation for relief and to excuse failure to timely file.  As a
result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the
individual concerned be corrected by showing assignment to Company A, 109th
Engineer Combat Battalion, 34th Infantry, vice Company C, 310th Engineer
Combat Battalion on his separation document.




            ___Kathleen Newman____
                    CHAIRPERSON




                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR2003097461                            |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20040708                                |
|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.       |110.00                                  |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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