| Mr. Carl W. S. Chun | Director | |
| Mr. Joseph A. Adriance | Analyst |
| Mr. Walter T. Morrison | Chairperson | ||
| Mr. Allen L. Raub | Member | ||
| Mr. Kenneth W. Lapin | Member |
THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE:
1. The applicant requests, in effect, that he be authorized a bronze service star to denote his combat parachute jump.
2. The applicant states, in effect, that he made a combat parachute jump while participating in Operation Varsity during World War II and should receive a bronze service star to denote this combat jump.
3. The applicant provides a copy of his separation document (TAGO Form 34) and a flight manifest (Form B Parachute) documenting his combat jump during Operation Varsity in support of his application.
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. The applicant is requesting correction of an error in his separation document that was issued on 2 November 1945. The application submitted in this case is dated 11 April 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. This case is being considered using reconstructed records, which primarily consist of his TAGO Form 34 and
Form B Parachute.
4. The TAGO Form 34 on file confirms that the applicant entered active duty
on 8 April 1942 and continuously served until being honorably separated on
2 November 1945. This document also verifies that he was assigned to
G Company, 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment, and that he served in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) from December 1943 through September 1945. It also shows that while serving in the ETO, he participated in the Normandy, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe campaigns of World War II.
5. The TAGO Form 34 also shows that the applicant earned the following awards during his tenure on active duty: Bronze Star Medal with Valor (“V”) Device and 1st Oak Leaf Cluster; Purple Heart; Good Conduct Medal; American Campaign Medal; European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with
1 bronze arrowhead and 4 bronze service stars; World War II Victory Medal; Distinguished Unit Emblem; French Fourragere; Combat Infantryman Badge; Parachutist Badge; Expert Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle, Automatic Rifle, Carbine, Sub-Machine Gun, and Bayonet Bars; and the Marksman Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Machine Gun and Mortar Bars.
6. The applicant provides a copy of a Form B Parachute plane manifest that includes his name in the list of participants in an Operation Varsity parachute jump. The 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment historical records confirm that the
unit participated in Operation Varsity by parachute jumping into the southern edge of the Diersfordter Forest, three miles northwest of Wesel, Germany, on
24 March 1945.
7. Army Regulation 600-8-22 prescribes the Army’s awards policy. Paragraph
7-25 establishes the criteria for receiving assault landing credit. It states, in pertinent part, that assault landing credit may be made to units of the Army who, make a parachute jump into enemy-held territory as a part of an organized force carrying out an assigned tactical mission. Paragraph 8-10 contains guidance on the Parachutist Badge. It states, in pertinent part, that a bronze service star is authorized to be worn on the Parachutist Badge to denote a soldier's participation in a combat parachute jump.
8. Department of the Army (DA) Pamphlet 672-1 (Unit Campaign Participation Credit Register-World War II) establishes the eligibility of individual members for campaign participation credit, assault landing credit, and unit citation badges awarded during World War II. It confirms that during his tenure of assignment, the applicant’s unit (G Company, 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment) received assault landing credit for Normandy during the period 6 through 7 June 1944, and for Wesel, Germany on 24 March 1945.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant’s claim of entitlement to a bronze service star with his Parachutist Badge was carefully considered and found to have merit. The evidence of record confirms that the applicant served in the ETO with the
507th Parachute Infantry Regiment, from 18 December 1943 through at least late August 1945. Historical records confirm that the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment participated in a combat parachute jump into the Wesel, Germany area on 24 March 1945, for which the unit received assault landing credit.
2. The applicant provides a copy of a Form B Parachute, which is a manifest containing names of members scheduled to make a combat parachute jump as part of Operation Varsity. The applicant’s name is included in this list of participants. This document, coupled with the evidence of record that confirms the applicant’s assignment to the unit and the fact that the unit received assault landing credit for Wesel, Germany on 24 March 1945, provides sufficient confirmation that the applicant participated in a combat parachute jump. Therefore, he is entitled to a bronze service star with his Parachutist Badge.
BOARD VOTE:
__KL___ __AR___ __WTM____ GRANT RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION
| CASE ID | AR2003090037 |
| SUFFIX | |
| RECON | |
| DATE BOARDED | 2003/12/04 |
| TYPE OF DISCHARGE | HD |
| DATE OF DISCHARGE | 1945/11/02 |
| DISCHARGE AUTHORITY | AR 615-365 |
| DISCHARGE REASON | Demobilization |
| BOARD DECISION | GRANT |
| REVIEW AUTHORITY | |
| ISSUES 1. 46 | 107.0000 |
| 2. | |
| 3. | |
| 4. | |
| 5. | |
| 6. |
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