RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        23 JUNE 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20040008199


      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. Kenneth H. Aucock             |     |Analyst              |

      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. Robert Duecaster              |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Thomas Pagan                  |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Michael Flynn                 |     |Member               |

      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.  In effect, the applicant requests award of the Purple Heart, Bronze
Star Medal, and that his record be corrected to show participation in three
campaigns during World War II, vice the one campaign shown.

2.  The applicant states that he was on a hill in the early part of
November 1944, and was in a hole filled with water that was waist deep.
His feet were swollen.  He was sent to the first aid station, and they sent
him back.  On 14 December 1944 they were loaded on trucks and moved to the
Klaserbere (sp) section, spending the night in a textile plant.  They
shoved off on 15 December 1944.  He was a scout.  He came upon a road block
and found two enemy Soldiers on the ridge.  They were taken care of.
Another Soldier was awarded the Bronze Star Medal.  He was discharged at
Battey General Hospital in Rome, Georgia.  His discharge record shows
participation in only one major engagement.  He participated in three.  In
a separate application, he states that he was wounded in the right leg,
approximately 6 inches below the knee on the night of 23 January 1945 after
being captured.  The wound was never reported or treated.  There are no
witnesses.  All of them have died.

3.  The applicant provides a copy of his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record
and Report of Separation).

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error or injustice
which occurred on 20 November 1945.  The application submitted in this case
is dated 17 September 2004.

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 limitations 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
are sufficient documents remaining for the Board to conduct a fair and
impartial review of this case.

4.  The applicant entered on active duty on 14 December 1943 and served
with Company L, 30th Infantry in the European Theater of Operations during
World War II, arriving in that theater on 15 August 1944 and returning to
the United States on 9 June 1945.  He was honorably discharged at Battey
General Hospital in Rome, Georgia on 20 November 1945, and issued a
certificate of disability.  He was awarded the European-African-Middle
Eastern Theater Ribbon with one bronze battle star, the World War II
Victory Medal, the American Campaign Medal, and one overseas service bar.
His report of separation shows that he participated in the Rhineland
campaign, that he was a rifleman, and that he was awarded the Combat
Infantryman Badge.

5.  In an undated letter (probably sometime in 1979) to the National
Personnel Records Center, in which he requested his records, the applicant
mentioned that he was taken a prisoner of war on the night of 23 January
1945.

6.  The applicant’s medical records show that he went overseas on 28 July
1944 to Italy and France, and that he was a prisoner of war in Germany.  He
was captured on 23 January 1945, and remained a prisoner of war until 28
April 1945.  He was hospitalized at Fort Oglethorpe (Georgia) Station
Hospital on 7 September 1945 with a diagnosis of a peptic ulcer, without
obstruction, mild, cause undetermined. He arrived at Battey General
Hospital on 1 October 1945, and was discharged from the Army with a
certificate of disability on 20 November 1945.

7.  In response to his request, on 1 June 1978 the Reserve Components
Personnel and Administration Center at St. Louis authorized issuance to the
applicant of the Bronze Star Medal based on his award of the Combat
Infantryman Badge, the Presidential Unit Emblem (now the Presidential Unit
Citation), the American Campaign Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern
Campaign Medal with one bronze service star, the Combat Infantryman Badge,
the Honorable Service Lapel Button (World War II), and the Marksman Badge
with rifle bar.  On 25 March 1988 that agency authorized issuance to the
applicant of the Prisoner of War Medal.

8.  On 20 July 1979 the applicant requested award of various medals to
include the Purple Heart.  On 29 November 1979 the Commanding General,
Reserve Components Personnel and Administration Center, informed the
applicant that he was entitled to award of the Good Conduct Medal, Army of
Occupation Medal with Germany Clasp, one bronze oak leaf cluster to the
Presidential Unit Emblem, three bronze service starts to the European-
African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, one bronze arrowhead, and the French
Fourragere.  On
3 December 1979, he was informed that there was no record to show that he
was treated for wounds received in action, and consequently, there was no
authority whereby he was authorized the Purple Heart.  A Member of Congress
was also informed that the applicant was not entitled to award of the
Purple Heart.

9.  On 18 March 1984, the applicant again requested award of the Purple
Heart, providing an account of the circumstances surrounding his wound.  He
stated that he was wounded on 23 January 1945 in the Colmar pocket when the
Germans counterattacked his unit.  He stated that a small group held out
for several hours but they were finally overrun and captured; and, while
being taken back through the woods, either a grenade or shell went off
close to them and he was hit in the left leg about 6 or 8 inches below the
knee and knocked down.  He thought at that time he had lost his leg, but it
was only a small cut.  He was ordered to continue and was offered no
medical aid.  He stated that he had tried in vain to locate some of the men
with whom he was captured.  He had no luck.

10.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides that the Purple Heart is awarded for
a wound sustained as a result of hostile action. Substantiating evidence
must be provided to verify that the wound was the result of hostile action,
the wound must have required treatment, and the medical treatment must have
been made a matter of official record.

11.  The Army Good Conduct Medal is awarded to individuals who distinguish
themselves by their conduct, efficiency and fidelity during a qualifying
period of active duty enlisted service.  This period is 3 years except in
those cases when the period for the first award ends with the termination
of a period of Federal military service.

12.  The POW Medal is authorized for any person who, while serving in any
capacity with the U.S. Armed Forces, was taken prisoner and held captive
after   5 April 1917.  The POW Medal is to be issued only to those U.S.
military personnel who were taken prisoner while engaged in an action
against an enemy of the United States.

13.  The Army of Occupation Medal with Germany Clasp is awarded for service
in Germany between 9 May 1945 and 5 May 1955.

14.  The Unit Citation and Campaign Participation Credit Register shows
that the 30th Infantry Regiment participated in a number of campaigns
during World War II, to include Southern France from 15 August 1944 to 14
September 1944, the Rhineland, from 5 September 1944 to 21 March 1945, and
Ardennes-Alsace, from 15 December 1944 to 25 January 1945.

15.  That register shows that the 30th Infantry Regiment was awarded the
bronze arrowhead for its participation in an assault landing in Southern
France on         15 and 16 August 1944.  It was awarded the French
Fourragere for its actions from 15 August 1944 to 6 February 1945, and was
awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation (now the Presidential Unit
Citation) for its actions from 22 January 1945 to 6 February 1945.  Company
L of the 30th Infantry Regiment was also awarded the Distinguished Unit
Citation for its actions on 17 September 1944.
The 30th Infantry Regiment was an occupation force in Germany and Austria
from 2 May 1945 to 31 October 1945.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  While the Board has no reason to doubt the statement of events the
applicant has provided regarding his wounding, such individual statements
are acceptable only where corroborating evidence is available from official
sources.  Unfortunately, as he himself has stated, there is no such
evidence.  Consequently, there are no grounds for the Board to award him
the Purple Heart.
2.  The applicant has been authorized issuance of numerous medals, as
indicated above.  His official records, however, have not been corrected to
reflect all of those awards.

3.  The applicant is entitled to award of the Bronze Star Medal by virtue
of his award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.  He was a prisoner of war and
is entitled to award of the Prisoner of War Medal.

4.  The evidence shows that the applicant served his country faithfully and
honorably.  He was a rifleman, a prisoner of war, and was awarded the
Combat Infantryman Badge. The applicant is entitled to award of the Army
Good Conduct Medal.

5.  The applicant served with Company L, 30th Infantry Regiment during
World War II, until his capture on 23 January 1945.  The 30th Infantry
Regiment participated in three campaigns during his assignment to that
organization and one assault landing.  Consequently, he is entitled to
award of the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with three
bronze service stars (one for each campaign) and one bronze arrowhead.

6.  Likewise, the applicant was assigned to the 30th Infantry Regiment when
it was awarded the French Fourragere and the Distinguished Unit Citation
for its actions during the war; and was assigned to Company L of the
regiment when that company was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation for
its actions.  He is entitled to award of the French Fourragere and the
Presidential Unit Citation with oak leaf cluster.

7.  The applicant was a prisoner of war from 23 January 1945 until 28 April
1945. He served thereafter as a member of the occupying force in Germany
until his return to the United States on 28 May 1945.  He is entitled to
award of the Army of Occupation Medal with Germany clasp.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

___RD __  ___TP __  ___MF __  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

1.  The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to
warrant a recommendation for partial 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 award of the
Bronze Star Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, Prisoner of War Medal, European-
African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with three bronze service stars and
one bronze arrowhead, French Fourragere, Presidential Unit Citation with
oak leaf cluster, and the Army of Occupation Medal with Germany clasp.

2.  The Board further determined that the evidence presented is
insufficient to warrant a portion of the requested relief.  As a result,
the Board recommends denial of so much of the application that pertains to
award of the Purple Heart.




                            ____ Robert Duecaster____
                                      CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20040008199                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20050623                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)    |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |AR . . . . .                            |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |PARTIAL GRANT                           |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |                                        |
|ISSUES         1.       |107.00                                  |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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