| Mr. Carl W. S. Chun | Director | |
| Mr. Jessie B. Strickland | Analyst |
| Mr. John N. Slone | Chairperson | |
| Mr. Mark D. Manning | Member | |
| Ms. Barbara J. Ellis | Member |
THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE:
rank of private first class (PFC), on 21 September 1945, with a Certificate of Disability for Discharge. He had served 3 months and 29 days of foreign service and 1 year, 2 months and 22 days of continental service. He was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Purple Heart with one oak leaf cluster, the Distinguished Unit Badge, the Bronze Star Medal and the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with two bronze service stars. The applicant signed the WD AGO Form 53-55 at the time of separation and provided a right thumb print.
5. The letter provided by the applicant from the commander of the 2nd Battalion, 442nd Infantry Regiment, is dated 17 February 1945 and is addressed to the applicant at McCaw General Hospital. The letter informs the applicant that promotions are made by unit commanders and while it is unfortunate that he was not promoted at the time he was performing assistant squad leader duties, the unit headquarters did not have the authority to promote him since he had been transferred from the unit.
6. Army Regulation 615-30, dated 12 February 1942, provided commanders with the provisions for assigning serial numbers to Soldiers. It provided, in pertinent part, that the first digit of a serial number would designate the component, ie, 1 – Regular Army, 2 – National Guard and 3 – Inductees. The second digit would denote the corps area of enlistment. Utah was in the 9th Corps area. Personnel inducted in the 9th Corps area were assigned serial numbers 39,000,000 to 39,999,999. The Army discontinued the use of service numbers on 1 July 1969.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. Absent evidence to the contrary, the Board must presume that the applicant was assigned the proper serial number at the time he entered the service.
2. The applicant has provided no evidence to suggest that he should have been assigned a Regular Army serial number. Furthermore, serial numbers are no longer used and it would be difficult at best to assign him a new serial number 58 years after the fact.
3. Although the applicant has provided a copy of a letter dated in February 1945, in which his promotion was addressed, the fact remains that the authority to promote him at the time rested with his commanding officer. While the failure to promote him may have been an administrative oversight, there is no evidence present in this case to suggest that such was the case.
4. Records show the applicant should have discovered the error or injustice now under consideration on 21 September 1945, the date he separated from active duty. Therefore, based on the establishment of this Board, 2 January 1947, the time for the applicant to file a request for correction of any error or injustice expired on 2 January 1950. However, the applicant did not file within the 3-year statute of limitations and has not provided a compelling explanation or evidence to show that it would be in the interest of justice to excuse failure to file in this case.
BOARD VOTE:
________ ________ ________ GRANT RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
__mdm__ ___js ___ ___be___ DENY APPLICATION
| CASE ID | AR2003090272 |
| SUFFIX | |
| RECON | YYYYMMDD |
| DATE BOARDED | 2003/11/18 |
| TYPE OF DISCHARGE | |
| DATE OF DISCHARGE | |
| DISCHARGE AUTHORITY | |
| DISCHARGE REASON | |
| BOARD DECISION | DENY |
| REVIEW AUTHORITY | |
| ISSUES 1. 1021 | 100.0000/ADMIN |
| 2. | |
| 3. | |
| 4. | |
| 5. | |
| 6. |
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