RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:           15 February 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20040001502


      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. Joseph A. Adriance            |     |Analyst              |

      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. Thomas D. Howard              |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. John Infante                  |     |Member               |
|     |Ms. Maribeth Love                 |     |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.  The applicant requests, in effect, award of two unit awards received
during World War II.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that his unit, the 746th Tank
Battalion was the first unit to cross the Seine and Rhine rivers, for which
the unit received a signed letter from the President of the United States.
The applicant claims that after the first river crossing the unit received
a medal that was about a 3/4-inch rectangle with a gold frame around a blue
ribbon.  An Oak Leaf Cluster was awarded for the second river crossing.

3.  The applicant provides a copy of his separation document (WD AGO Form
53-55) in support of his application.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error or injustice
that occurred on 8 December 1945.  The application submitted in this case
was received on 21 May 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 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.  This case is being
considered using reconstructed records, which primarily consist of the
applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 and a DA Form 1577 (Authorization for
Issuance of Awards).

4.  The applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 shows that he was inducted into the
Army and entered active duty on 22 January 1943.  He served in military
occupational specialty (MOS) 511 (Armorer) and held the rank of private on
the date of his separation, 8 December 1945.

5.  The separation document also shows that the applicant served in the
European Theater of Operations (ETO) from 6 February 1944 through
25 November 1945 and that during this tour, he was assigned to Company A,
746th Tank Battalion.

6.  Item 31 (Military Qualifications) of the applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55
shows he earned the Expert Qualification Badge with Machine Gun Bar. Item
32
(Battles and Campaigns) contains an entry indicating he participated in the
Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes and Central Europe campaigns
of World War II.  Item 33 (Decorations and Citations) and
Item 55 (Remarks) show he earned the European-African-Middle Eastern
Campaign Medal with 5 bronze service stars, American Theater Campaign Medal
and Army Good Conduct Medal.

7.  A DA Form 1577, dated 14 March 1984, issued by the Reserve Component
Personnel and Administration Center (RCPAC), St. Louis, Missouri,
authorized the applicant be issued the following awards:  Army Good Conduct
Medal, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign
Medal with 1 silver service stars (in lieu of 5 bronze service stars),
World War II Victory Medal and Expert Qualification Badge with Machine Gun
Bar.


8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) prescribes Army policy and
criteria concerning individual military awards.  Paragraph 5-12 contains
guidance on the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal.  It states,
in pertinent part, that a bronze arrowhead is authorized for assault
landing credit and a bronze service star is authorized for each campaign a
member is credited with participating in while in the ETO.  A silver
service star is used in lieu of 5 bronzes service stars to denote
participation in five campaigns.  Paragraph 5-12 contains guidance on the
World War II Victory Medal.  It states, in pertinent part, that it is
authorized for service between 7 December 1941 and 31 December 1946, both
dates inclusive.


9.  Paragraph 7-13 of the awards regulation contains guidance on the
Presidential Unit Citation.  The Distinguished Unit Citation was
redesignated the Presidential Unit Citation (Army) on 3 November 1966.  The
regulation states it is awarded to units of the Armed Forces of the United
States and cobelligerent nations for extraordinary heroism in action
against an armed enemy occurring on or after 7 December 1941.  Paragraph 7-
15 contains guidance on award of the Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC).
It states, in pertinent part, that it is awarded for exceptionally
meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services during the
period of military operations against an armed enemy.

10.  Paragraph 9-22 of the awards regulation contains guidance on award of
the Belgian Fourragere.  It states it may be awarded by the Belgian
Government when a unit has been cited twice in the Order of the Day of the
Belgian Army. The award of the Fourragere is not automatic but must be by
specific decree of the Belgian Government

11.  Department of the Army 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.  This source confirms that
during his tenure of assignment, the applicant’s unit (Company A, 746th
Tank Battalion) received the Distinguished Unit Citation (Now known as the
Presidential Unit Citation), Meritorious Unit Commendation, Belgium
Fourregere and assault landing credit for Normandy.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant’s claim of entitlement to two unit awards was carefully
considered and found to have merit.  The evidence of record confirms that
during his tenure of assignment, the applicant’s unit earned the
Distinguished Unit Citation (Now known as the Presidential Unit Citation),
Meritorious Unit Commendation and Belgium Fourregere.  As a result, it
would be appropriate to add these awards to the applicant’s separation
document at this time.

2.  The record also shows that during his service in the ETO, the
applicant’s unit was credited with participating in five campaigns and with
assault landing credit for Normandy.  Therefore, it would be appropriate
for the applicant’s separation to shows he is entitled to 1 silver service
star and a bronze arrowhead with his European-African-Middle Eastern
Campaign Medal.

3.  The evidence further confirms that based on his World War II service,
he is also entitled to the World War Victory Medal, which also should be
added to the list of awards on his separation document at this time.

BOARD VOTE:

___TDH _  __JI____  ___MBL _  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL 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 that he is entitled to the
following awards:  Army Good Conduct Medal, American Theater Campaign
Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 1 silver service
star and a bronze arrowhead, Presidential Unit Citation, Meritorious Unit
Commendation, Belgium Fourregere, World War II Victory Medal and Expert
Qualification Badge with Machine Gun Bar; and by providing him a corrected
separation document that includes these awards.





            ____Thomas D. Howard___
                    CHAIRPERSON




                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20040001502                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |2005/02/17                              |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |HD                                      |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |1945/12/08                              |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |AR 615-365                              |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |Demobilization                          |
|BOARD DECISION          |GRANT PLUS                              |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |                                        |
|ISSUES         1.  46   |107.0000                                |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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