RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:           11 January 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR2004107052


      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             |
|     |Mrs. Nancy L. Amos                |     |Analyst              |


      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Ms. Linda D. Simmons              |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. John T. Meixell               |     |Member               |
|     |Ms. Carol A. Kornhoff             |     |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 53-98 (Military Record and
Report of Separation Certificate of Service) be corrected to show his
original enlistment date.  He also requests he be awarded the Bronze Star
Medal (BSM) based on award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.

2.  The applicant states that he originally enlisted on 17 July 1942.  His
discharge papers do not reflect the time he served from his original
enlistment date to the time he entered Officer Candidate School.

3.  The applicant provides his WD AGO Form 53-98; his WD AGO Form 55
(Honorable Discharge and Enlisted Record); his WD AGO Form 63 (Report of
Physical Examination); a certificate appointing him a temporary Corporal;
and an information paper on the BSM.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of alleged errors which occurred
on      15 January 1946.  The application submitted in this case is dated
15 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 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.

4.  The applicant enlisted in the Army on 17 July 1942.  He was appointed a
temporary Corporal on 6 November 1942.  He was discharged on 12 February
1943 for the purpose of accepting an appointment as a Second Lieutenant.

5.  The applicant was appointed a Second Lieutenant.  His WD AGO Form 53-98
shows he entered active duty on 13 February 1943 and separated on 15
January 1946.  It also shows he was assigned to Company H, 291st Infantry
as an infantry unit commander and that he had been awarded the European-
African- Middle Eastern Ribbon with four bronze service stars, the Purple
Heart with one oak leaf cluster, the American Theater Ribbon, the [World
War II] Victory Ribbon, and the Combat Infantryman Badge.

7.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides for the award of
the BSM to any person who distinguished himself or herself by heroic or
meritorious achievement or service, not involving participation in aerial
flight, in connection with military operations against an armed enemy.  It
also provides for award of the BSM to members of the armed forces who,
after 6 December 1941 and prior to 3 September 1945, have been cited in
orders or in a formal certificate for meritorious or exemplary conduct in
ground combat against the armed enemy.  A citation in orders for the Combat
Infantryman Badge or Medical Badge awarded in the field during the period
of actual combat against the armed enemy is considered as a citation for
exemplary conduct in ground combat.

8.  Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-1 (Unit Citation and Campaign
Participation Credit Register) lists the unit awards and campaign
participation credit received by units serving during World War II.  This
document shows that the 291st Infantry was awarded occupation credit for
Germany for the period       2 May through 5 July 1945.

9.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Army of
Occupation Medal is awarded for service of 30 consecutive days at a normal
post of duty in a qualifying location.  For Germany, service must have been
between   9 May 1945 and 5 May 1955 and the European-African-Middle Eastern
Campaign Medal (formerly designated a Theater Ribbon) must have been
awarded prior to 9 May 1945.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant's WD AGO Form 55 was his enlisted separation document.
That document reflected his enlisted service from his enlistment on 17 July
1942 until his discharge on 12 February 1943.  His WD AGO Form 53-98 was
meant to reflect only his service resulting from his current (i.e., 13
February 1943) entry on active duty in his new, commissioned status.  There
is no error in the WD AGO Form 53-98 not reflecting his original enlistment
date.

2.  The applicant met the eligibility criteria for award of the BSM based
upon award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.  He also met the eligibility
criteria for award of the Army of Occupation Medal with Germany clasp.
These two medals should be added to his WD AGO Form 53-98.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT RELIEF

__lds___  __jtm__      __cak___  GRANT PARTIAL 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 WD AGO Form 53-98 of the
individual concerned be corrected by adding the Bronze Star Medal and the
Army of Occupation Medal with Germany clasp.

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
amending his WD AGO Form 53-98 to show his original enlistment date of 17
July 1942.




            __Linda D. Simmons____
                    CHAIRPERSON




                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR2004107052                            |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |20050111                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |                                        |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |GRANT                                   |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |Mr. Schneider                           |
|ISSUES         1.       |100.00                                  |
|2.                      |110.04                                  |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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