RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:          13 January 2004
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR2003088434


      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             |
|     |Mr. Richard P. Nelson             |     |Analyst              |


  The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Ms. Lana E. McGlynn               |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Roger W. Able                 |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Patrick H. McGann             |     |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 “retroactive promotion” from the date he was a
prisoner of war (POW).

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that he was never informed of an Army
policy that granted all Army POWs a one-grade promotion, retroactive to the
day they were captured.

3.  The applicant provides copies of: letters home during his captivity; a
War Claims Commission Form 6, dated 23 January 1950, giving an account of
his captivity by the German Army; WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and
Report of Separation-Honorable Discharge); and, an article printed in The
American Legion Magazine, dated February 2003.  The article addresses
promotion of POWs upon repatriation.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an error that occurred on 3
May 1945.  The application submitted in this case is dated 20 March 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 also allows the
Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) to excuse an
applicant’s failure to timely file within the 3-year statute of limitations
if the ABCMR determines that it would be in the interest of justice to do
so.  The ABCMR has elected to conduct a substantive review of this 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 were lost or destroyed in the National
Personnel Records Center fire of 1973.  Records available to the Board were
obtained from alternate sources and consist of his WD AGO Form 53-55, the
documents provided by the applicant, and DD Form 2510 (Prisoner of War
(POW) Medal Application/Information), dated 7 May 1988.

4.  The applicant was inducted on 18 November 1942 and entered on active
duty on 3 December of that same year.  He was trained as an infantryman and
awarded military occupational specialty 745.  The applicant deployed to the
European Theater of Operations on 20 September 1944.



5.  On 23 November 1944, the applicant’s status was changed to POW.  He was
returned to U.S. military control on 3 May 1945 and his status was changed
from POW to present for duty on that date.

6.  The applicant returned to the United States on 12 June 1945.  He was
honorably released from active duty, in the grade of Private First Class,
on 22 October 1945.  His separation document shows that he was awarded the
European-African-Middle Eastern Service Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, the
Expert Rifle and Carbine Badges, and the Combat Infantryman Badge.  This
document also shows that he participated in the Central Europe and
Rhineland Campaigns.

7.  Under a War Department policy announced in 1945, individuals who were
POW's for 18 months or longer during World War II were eligible for an
automatic one-grade promotion upon return to military control.  Individuals
lost to military control for periods less than 18 months were not eligible
for promotion under this policy.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  While the alleged error occurred on 3 May 1945, the applicant states
that he did not discover the error until he read the American Legion
article in February of 2003.  Therefore, he has filed his request within
the 3 year statute of limitations.

2.  The article printed in the American Legion Magazine indicates that all
Army POWs received a one-grade promotion upon their return to military
control.  However, historical documents contradict this fact and clearly
establish that the policy was applicable only to those POWs who had been in
captivity a minimum of 18 months.

3.  The applicant was a POW for less than 18 months.  As such he did not
meet the criteria and was not entitled to be promoted in accordance with
War Department policy in effect at the time.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

___phm__  ___lem __  ___rwa _  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.





            __________Lana E MGlynn____________
                    CHAIRPERSON




                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR2003088434                            |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20040113                                |
|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.       |                                        |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |