RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        09 AUGUST 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20040011226


      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             |
|     |Ms. Deborah L. Brantley           |     |Senior Analyst       |

      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Ms. Barbara Ellis                 |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Kenneth Wright                |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Patrick McGann                |     |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 reflect his
status as a POW (Prisoner of War).

2.  The applicant states that he was taken as a POW “in 1946” and believes
this should be reflected on his separation document.  He states that he
submitted a form “about three years ago” but never heard from anyone.  He
states he would like this taken care of before he dies.

3.  The applicant provides no evidence in support of his request.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error or injustice
which occurred on 23 January 1947.  The application submitted in this case
is dated
3 December 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 remaining in a reconstructed record for the Board
to conduct a fair and impartial review of this case.

4.  The applicant’s separation documents indicate that he was inducted and
entered active duty on 9 September 1944 and arrived in the European Theater
of Operations in February 1945.  He participated in two designated campaign
periods and was awarded two awards of the Purple Heart prior to returning
the United States in June 1945.  He departed Europe on 7 June 1945.  His
unit of assignment while in Europe is not in records available to the
Board.

5.  The applicant was honorably discharged for the purpose of enlisting in
the Regular Army on 16 November 1945.  He reenlisted on 17 November 1945
and served another tour of duty overseas, in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater,
between February 1946 and December 1946.  On 23 January 1947 he was
honorably discharged.

6.  Information provided by the applicant in an August 1999 application for
living ex-prisoner of war compensation notes that he reported being taken
captive at bayonet point from a fox hole in the “last part of [the] war
with Germany.”  He noted that he and several other men were in his group
and they were held outside for “about 25 days” and then in a barracks for
“5 or 6 days.”  He states that they were marched from place to place until
they were at the “Putina Political Prisoner Camp.”  He states that they
were then released and the men “made it back to our lines.”

7.  A search of records maintained by the Army Center for Military History
produced no results for a Putina Political Prisoner Camp.

8.  There is no indication that any action was ever taken on the
applicant’s request for POW compensation.  However, in August 1999
officials at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis authorized
issuance of the POW Medal to the applicant.

9.  A review of the World War II Prisoners of War Date File, maintained by
the National Archives confirmed that the applicant was identified as a POW
during World War II.  The data entry notes that he was reported as a POW on
2 May 1945, only 6 days prior to the date that President Roosevelt declared
“V-E” (Victory in Europe) day.  However, the date recorded as his having
been released from POW status, 10 October 1945, is inconsistent with the
information contained on his separation document, which indicates he
departed the European Theater of Operations in June 1945.

10.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides, in pertinent
part, for award of the Prisoner of War Medal.  The regulation states that
the Prisoner of War Medal was authorized on 8 November 1985 and is awarded
to individuals who in past armed conflicts were taken prisoner or held
captive.

11.  Army Regulation 635-5 (Separations Document) which establishes the
current standardized policy for preparing and distributing discharge
documents, states that in the case of prisoners of war, the unit of
assignment, country and dates of capture and release will be entered in the
“Remarks” section of the discharge document.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The fact that the applicant’s name is among a list of individuals
reported as POWs during World War II, which are maintained by the National
Archives, is sufficiently compelling evidence to support the applicant’s
contention that he was a POW.  There is, however, a discrepancy between the
date his separation document indicates he departed Europe and the date The
National Archives shows as the date he was released from prisoner status.

2.  Although the applicant states in his application that he was captured
in 1946, that is clearly an error, and in all likelihood he was captured in
early May 1945 as he indicated in his application for compensation.  The
fact that V-E Day occurred shortly after his being reported as a POW could
explain the discrepancy in the date he was reported as being released from
POW status and the date his separation document shows he departed Europe.
Based on the applicant’s recollection that he was held outside for
approximately 25 days and then in a barracks for 5 additional days, he was
likely a POW for about 30 days, which is more consistent with his departure
date from Europe.

3.  Clearly the evidence supports that the applicant was a POW and as such
he is entitled to an award of the POW Medal.  What is less clear, however,
is the length of his captivity and the unit he was assigned to at the time.
 Rather than incorrectly record the dates of his POW status on his
separation document, in this particular instance it would be sufficient to
merely note in the remarks section that the applicant was held as a POW, in
Germany, in 1945 and add the award of the POW Medal.

BOARD VOTE:

__BE ___  ___KW__  ___PM __  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:

      a.  by showing in the remarks section of his 1946 separation document
that he was held as a POW, in Germany, in 1945; and


      b.  by awarding him the POW Medal.





                            ______Barbara Ellis_______
                                      CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20040011226                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20050809                                |
|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.                      |110.00                                  |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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