RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:              JULY 1, 2004
      DOCKET NUMBER:      AR2004103785


      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. Luis Almodova                 |     |Analyst              |


  The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Ms. Lana E. McGlynn               |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Ms. Linda Simmons                 |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. John Meixell                  |     |Member               |

      The applicant and counsel if any, did not appear before the Board.

      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, that his discharge [WD AGO Form 53-
55, Enlisted Record and Report of Separation, Honorable Discharge] be
corrected and that he be awarded the Purple Heart with two oak leaf
clusters.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that Item 31 (Military Qualification
and Date), "should say, Combat Infantry Badge; Expert Carbine.  It should
also list the qualifications with the BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle); 30
cal machine gun, 81 mm mortar."  He further states that Item 33 Should
read, "Bronze Star with service arrowhead, (5 campaigns with one amphibious
landing); EAME, GCM, Victory Medal, and the Purple Heart with 3*."

3.  The applicant provides a VA Form 21-4138, Statement in Support of
Claim, which was appended to his DD Form 149, Application for Correction of
Military Record, in support of his application.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an error or injustice, which
occurred on 5 February 1946.  The application submitted in this case is
dated 21 July 2003.

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.  Information
herein was obtained from reconstructed personnel records and from other
documentary sources.

4.  The applicant was inducted on 24 August 1943 and entered service at
Seattle, Washington, on 14 September 1943.  The applicant was honorably
discharged in the grade of Private First Class on 21 December 1945.
5.  The applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55, Enlisted Record and Report of
Separation, Honorable Discharge, with an effective date of 21 December 1945
shows, in Item 33 (Decorations and Citations), that he was awarded the
Purple Heart; the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal; the Good
Conduct Medal; the World War II Victory Medal, and a bronze service
arrowhead [correctly known as a bronze arrowhead device].  The Purple
Heart, with two oak leaf clusters, indicating the second and third award of
the Purple Heart is not shown.

6.  Item 31 (Military Qualification and Date), of the applicant's WD AGO
Form
53-55, shows the following entry, with continuations shown in item 55
(Remarks):  "Combat Infantryman Expert Carbine M-1 & 03 Rifle Pistol and
Mortar."  The applicant has already been awarded the Combat Infantryman
Badge, and the Expert Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Carbine [M-1
Carbine], Pistol, and Mortar Bars.  A further distinction on the bar is not
made for the particular weapon (i.e., a Mortar is the same as 81mm Mortar).
 Therefore, these weapons systems will not be discussed further in these
proceedings.

7.  Item 32 (Battles and Campaigns) shows that the applicant was given
credit for participating in the Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes,
Rhineland, and the Central Europe campaigns of World War II.

8.  Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action), of the applicant's WD AGO Form
53-55, was incorrectly left blank, in view of the fact that the applicant
was awarded the Purple Heart in General Orders 11, Headquarters, 93rd
General Hospital, dated 1944.

9.  Item 55 (Remarks) shows that the applicant was issued the Lapel Button
[correctly known as the Honorable Service/Discharge Emblem].

10.  A health record research project, commonly referred to as the "SGO
Files", involved transposing the hospital admission card data from the
periods of World War II and the Korean conflict onto magnetic tape.  In
1988 the National Research Council made these tape files available to the
National Personnel Records Center (NPRC).  The availability of the
information to the NPRC received considerable publicity by the various
veterans' service organizations.  It was widely believed that these tapes
would become a valuable substitute for the records lost in the NPRC fire of
1973.  It is estimated that the SGO files document 95 percent of all
hospitalized battle casualties from World War II and the Korean War.  A
search of these files shows that the applicant sustained a bullet wound in
action, in June 1944.  The wound was in the lower extremities,
generally (code possibly means ankle region).  The applicant was
hospitalized for 36 days.  No other hospital reports reflecting the injury
and amputation of a finger or a shell fragment wound to the shoulder were
found.

11.  AR 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is
awarded for a wound sustained as a result of hostile action.
Substantiating evidence must be provided to verify that:  (a) the wound was
the result of hostile action; (b) the wound required medical treatment; and
(c) the medical treatment was made a matter of official record.  The bronze
oak leaf cluster is awarded to denote the second and succeeding awards of a
certain decorations, among which is the Purple Heart.

12.  The applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 shows entitlement to the European-
African-Middle Eastern Service Medal [correctly known as the European-
African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal]; however, it does not show the
bronze service stars to which the applicant is entitled for his campaign
participation.

13.  AR 600-8-22, in pertinent part, authorizes award of a bronze service
star, based on qualifying service, for each campaign listed in its Appendix
B and states that authorized bronze service stars will be worn on the
appropriate service medal, in this case, the European-African-Middle
Eastern Campaign Medal.  The regulation further provides that one silver
service star will be worn in lieu of five bronze service stars.

14.  Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-1, Unit Citation and Campaign
Participation Credit Register, shows that the applicant's unit, Company H,
2nd Battalion, 358th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division, was awarded
assault landing credit for the invasion of Normandy on 6 through 7 June
1944, by Department of the Army General Orders (DAGO) Number 70, dated
1945.  The applicant's unit was also awarded the French Croix de Guerre for
the period 9 through19 November 1944 by DAGO 43, dated 1945.

15.  AR 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, for the “arrowhead” to be
worn on the appropriate service medal to denote participation in a combat
parachute jump, helicopter assault landing, combat glider landing, or
amphibious assault landing (emphasis added) while assigned or attached as a
member of an organized force carrying out an assigned tactical mission.
The regulation specifies that individual assault credit is tied directly to
the combat assault credit decision for the unit to which the soldier is
assigned.  The regulation requires that the unit must be credited with a
combat assault in order for the soldiers to receive credit for a combat
assault and the soldier must physically exit the aircraft or
the watercraft as appropriate.  The regulation also specifies that the
arrowhead is authorized for wear on the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the Korean Service Medal,
the Vietnam Service Medal, and the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal.

16.  AR 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Bronze Star Medal is
awarded for heroism and for meritorious achievement or service in military
operations against an armed enemy.  The Bronze Star Medal is authorized for
each individual who was cited in orders or awarded a certificate for
exemplary conduct in ground combat between 7 December 1941 and 2 September
1945 or whose achievement or service, during that period, was confirmed by
documents executed prior to 1 July 1947.  An award of the Combat
Infantryman Badge or the Combat Medical Badge is considered to be a
citation in orders.  This means, in effect, that the Bronze Star Medal is
to be awarded to individuals who were authorized either badge for service
during World War II.

17.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides, in pertinent
part, that the Army of Occupation Medal (AOM) is awarded for service of 30
consecutive days at a normal post of duty in a qualifying location.
Personnel at a qualifying location as an inspector, courier, escort,
temporary or detached duty are precluded from eligibility.  For Germany,
service must have been between 9 May 1945 and 5 May 1955 and the European-
African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal must have been awarded prior to 9 May
1945.  Qualifying service for the Berlin clasp is from 9 May 1945 and 2
October 1990.  Qualifying service in Japan included service in the Japanese
Home Islands, the Ryukyu Islands, and the Bonin-Volcano Islands between 3
September 1945 and 27 April 1952.  Service between 3 September 1945 and 2
March 1946 is qualifying only if the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal was
earned prior to 3 September 1945.

18.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides for award of the French Fourragere.
The regulation states that the French Government may award it when a unit
has been cited twice for award of the Croix de Guerre.  The award of the
French Fourragere is not automatic but must be by special decree of the
French Government.  Persons who were present in only one action are not
authorized to wear the fourragere, but may have a reference to the citation
added to their separation document.

19.  In a 28 March 1983 letter, the U.S. Army Military Personnel Center
published the policy regarding awards of the French Croix de Guerre to U.S.
Army veterans who had served in World War I and World War II.  Essentially,
this guidance states that there is no individual emblem presented to or
worn by Army soldiers who were in a unit cited by the French Government for
the Croix de Guerre.  Thus, former members of any American units which
appear in Department of the
Army Pamphlet 672-1 (Unit Citation and Campaign Credit Register) are not
authorized an individual device.  This is also true of the Belgian Citation
in the Order of the Day and the Netherlands Military Order of William.  As
a result, the only European foreign unit awards, which a former Army
service member may wear, are the French Fourragere, the Belgian Fourragere
and the Netherlands Orange Lanyard.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55, prepared at the time of his
separation from the Army, and which the applicant authenticated in his own
hand, shows that the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart, but with no
oak leaf clusters.

2.  The "SGO Files" were searched to determine if other reports were
available to corroborate the applicant's contentions that he was wounded on
two other occasions.  No other hospital reports reflecting the injury and
amputation of a finger or a shell fragment wound to the shoulder were
found.  The applicant provided no documentary evidence to support his
contentions.  Therefore, in the absence of corroborating evidence, the
applicant is ineligible for award of the Purple Heart with two oak leaf
clusters, at this time.

3.  Item 34 of the applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 was inadvertently left
blank when it was completed.  The evidence shows that the applicant was
wounded in action, assumedly in Normandy, in June 1944.

4.  Records show that the applicant was awarded the Combat Infantryman
Badge during World War II.  He is eligible for award of the Bronze Star
Medal based on the special provisions of the awards regulation that
considers award of the Combat Infantryman Badge a citation in orders.  It
would be appropriate to award the applicant the Bronze Star Medal and to
add it to his WD AGO Form 53-55 at this time.

5.  The applicant participated in five campaigns during his service in
World War II.  The applicant's unit also received credit for an assault
landing on Normandy on 6-7 June 1944.  He is therefore eligible for award
of one silver service star to be affixed to his already-awarded European-
African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal along with the already-awarded bronze
arrowhead device and which is shown on his WD AGO Form 53-55, but not shown
as awarded in connection with the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign
Medal.  He is therefore eligible to have these appurtenances added to his
separation document and to be shown in connection with the European-African-
Middle Eastern Campaign Medal.
6.  The applicant served with Company H, 2nd Battalion, 358th Infantry
Regiment, 90th Infantry Division, at the time it was awarded assault-
landing credit for the invasion of Normandy on 6-7 June 1944; the Army of
Occupation Medal, with Germany Clasp; and was cited once for award of the
French Croix de Guerre.  He is therefore eligible to receive these awards
and to have them, or a reference, added to his WD AGO Form 53-55.

7.  The applicant’s unit was cited for award of the French Croix de Guerre
while he was assigned to it.  Therefore, the applicant is entitled to
correction of Item 55 (Remarks) on his WD AGO Form 53-55 to show the entry,
“French Croix de Guerre with Palm - Unit Citation - No Emblem Authorized.”

BOARD VOTE:

lem_____  lds _____  jm______  GRANT 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:

      a.  awarding the applicant the Bronze Star Medal, based on award of
the Combat Infantryman Badge;


      b.  awarding the applicant one silver service star, to denote his
campaign participation, to be affixed to his already-awarded European-
African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal [to be shown on his correction
document as the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, with one
silver service star and bronze arrowhead device];


      c.  awarding the applicant the Army of Occupation Medal, with Germany
Clasp;


      d.  making the following entry in the remarks section of the
applicant's separation document:  “French Croix de Guerre with Palm - Unit
Citation - No Emblem Authorized;” and
e.  correcting Item 34 of the applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 to add
reference to his being wounded in action in Normandy, in June 1944.


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, with two oak leaf clusters, to the applicant at
this time.





            ___Lana E. McGlynn____
                    CHAIRPERSON




                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR2004103785                            |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |20040701                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |                                        |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |GRANT IN PART                           |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |                                        |
|ISSUES         1.  46   |107.0000                                |
|2.  61                  |107.0015                                |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |



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