RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:         24 FEBRUARY 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20040001966


      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:

|     |Ms. Yolanda Maldonado             |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Ronald Weaver                 |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Jonathon Rost                 |     |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 that his records be corrected to show award of
the Combat Medical Badge and the Bronze Star Medal, and that he be issued
those awards.

2.  The applicant states that he was awarded those decorations, but never
received them.

3.  The applicant provides the documents depicted herein.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error or injustice
which occurred on 17 October 1945.  The application submitted in this case
is dated    26 April 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
were sufficient documents available for the Board to conduct a fair and
impartial review of this case.

4.  The applicant was inducted into the Army on 25 November 1942 and
entered on active duty on 5 February 1943.  He served with the 102nd
Medical Battalion in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations from May
1943 until October 1945 as a litter bearer with the 102nd Medical
Battalion.  He was discharged at Camp Beale, California in the rank of
corporal on 17 October 1945.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and
Report of Separation) shows that he was awarded the Asiatic-Pacific
Campaign Medal and the Good Conduct Medal.

5.  On 10 December 1945 the applicant, assigned to Company B, 102nd Medical
Battalion, was awarded the Medical Badge, retroactive to 20 December 1943,
for satisfactory performance of duty under actual combat conditions at
Makin Atoll, Gilbert Islands.

6.  Copies of newspaper articles submitted by the applicant shows that he
served in a medical unit with the 27th Infantry Division in the Central
Pacific.  Also included is a letter from the applicant’s commanding officer
to his mother commending his performance of duty.  Shown also is a VFW
(Veterans of Foreign Wars) article regarding the applicant’s World War II
service.

7.  Originally established as the Medical Badge, the Combat Medical Badge
was created by their War Department on 1 March 1945, and could be awarded
retroactively to 7 December 1941 to qualified personnel. The Combat Medical
Badge is awarded to medical department personnel (colonels and below) who
are assigned or attached to a medical unit of company or smaller size that
is organic to an infantry unit of brigade, regimental or smaller size which
is engaged in active ground combat.  Battle participation credit is not
sufficient; the infantry unit must have been in contact with the enemy.

8.  The Bronze Star Medal is awarded to each member of the Armed Forces of
the United States who, after 6 December 1941 has been cited in orders or
awarded a certificate for exemplary conduct in ground combat against an
armed enemy between 7 December 1941 and 2 September 1945.  The award of a
Combat Medical Badge is considered as a citation in orders.

9.  The World War II Victory Medal is awarded for service between 7
December 1941 and 31 December 1946.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

The applicant is entitled to award of the Combat Medical Badge, and by
virtue of that award, the Bronze Star Medal.  He is also entitled to award
of the World War II Victory Medal.  His records should be corrected to
reflect those awards, and he should be issued those awards.

BOARD VOTE:

___YM __  ___RW__  ___JR __  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 award of the Combat Medical
Badge, Bronze Star Medal, and World War II Victory Medal.  The applicant
should be issued those awards.





                            ___Yolanda Maldonado____
                                      CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20040001966                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20050224                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)    |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |AR . . . . .                            |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |GRANT                                   |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |                                        |
|ISSUES         1.       |107.00                                  |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


-----------------------
[pic]