RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        16 November 2004
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR2004102952


      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. Robert J. McGowan             |     |Analyst              |

      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. Melvin H. Meyer               |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Ms. Eloise C. Prendergast         |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Robert Rogers                 |     |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 WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and
Report of Separation - Honorable Discharge) be corrected to show that he
served in military occupational specialty (MOS) 657 (Aid Man), not MOS 861
(Surgical Technician).

2.  The applicant states that, although he was trained as a surgical
technician, he actually served as a combat medic.

3.  The applicant provides a copy of his Red Cross brassard and his Geneva
Convention Identification (ID) Card.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error or injustice
which occurred on 6 February 1946, the date of his separation from active
duty.  The application submitted in this case is undated, but was received
on 5 February 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.  A previous application, dated 20 November 2002 and received on
2 December 2002, was returned to the applicant without Board action because
his military records could not be located and were feared lost or destroyed
in the National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973.  This case is being
considered using reconstructed records, which primarily consist of the
applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55, his Red Cross brassard, and his Geneva
Convention ID Card.

4.  The applicant was inducted into the Army of the United States on 18
August 1943 and entered active service on 8 September 1943.  He attended
the Army Air Force Surgical Technician Course at Lawson General Hospital,
Atlanta, Georgia and was awarded MOS 861 (Surgical Technician).

5.  The applicant was deployed to the European Theater of Operations (ETO)
and arrived there on 28 June 1944.  He was assigned to the Medical
Detachment, 60th Infantry Regiment where he served in the rank of Staff
Sergeant.  He departed the ETO on 15 January 1946 and returned to the
United States on 2 February 1946.  He was honorably separated on 6 February
1946.

6.  MOS numbers were awarded based on all pertinent data concerning a
soldier's ability, education, training [emphasis added], intelligence,
aptitude, occupational history, military experience, interests, personal
traits, and other demonstrated qualifications.  Such information was used
in order to assign soldiers to duties in which they were of the most value
to the Armed Forces.  During World War II, aid man, hospital orderly,
litter bearer and ambulance driver all carried the identical MOS of 657.
Medical personnel in MOS's other than 657 could have served in that MOS, as
a temporary or permanent measure, even though trained in a different MOS.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant's existing service records clearly show that he was
trained as a surgical technician in MOS 861.  Although he may have served
in MOS 657, he was trained in, and awarded, MOS 861.  This MOS is correctly
reflected on his separation document.

2.  The Red Cross brassard and Geneva Convention ID Card were issued to all
Army Medical Department staff to indicate their noncombatant status under
the Geneva Convention of 1929.  These accoutrements were not an indicator
of a particular MOS within the medical field.

3.  Records show the applicant should have discovered the alleged error or
injustice now under consideration on 6 February 1946, the date of his
separation from active duty.  However, the ABCMR was not established until
2 January 1947.  As a result, the time for the applicant to file a request
for correction of any error or injustice expired on 1 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
timely file in this case.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

__mhm___  __ecp___  __rr____  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

1.  The Board determined that the evidence presented does not demonstrate
the existence of a probable error or injustice.  Therefore, the Board
determined that the overall merits of this case are insufficient as a basis
for correction of the records of the individual concerned.

2.  As a result, the Board further determined that there is no evidence
provided which shows that it would be in the interest of justice to excuse
the applicant's failure to timely file this application within the 3-year
statute of limitations prescribed by law.  Therefore, there is insufficient
basis to waive the statute of limitations for timely filing or for
correction of the records of the individual concerned.



                                        Melvin H. Meyer
                                  ______________________
                                            CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR2004102952                            |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |20041116                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |                                        |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |DENY                                    |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |                                        |
|ISSUES         1.       |100.0500                                |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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