RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:           14 June 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20050000587


      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:

|     |Mr. John N. Slone                 |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Hubert O. Fry                 |     |Member               |
|     |Ms. Linda D. Simmons              |     |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 date of entry into active service be
corrected; that he be authorized the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB), the
Bronze Star Medal (BSM), the Purple Heart, the European-African-Middle
Eastern (EAME) Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal and that
he be issued the same; and, in effect, that his rank on his Certification
of Military Service be corrected to read Corporal.

2.  The applicant states that he entered the Army around March 1944 and he
is authorized the Purple Heart.  In August or September 1944, his serial
number was changed, and he believes that caused his enlistment records to
be disassociated from his 201 file thus causing his entry date on his
National Archives Form 13038 (Certification of Military Service) to be
wrong.

3.  The applicant states that his serial number was changed from 3_ ___ ___
to 4_ ___ 9__ around September 1944; however, the WD AGO Form 53-55
(Enlisted Record and Report of Separation) he provides his serial number as
   4_ ___ 8___.  The WD AGO Form 53-55 also shows that he had 1 year,
      6 months, and 10 days in the infantry, which would establish an entry
date of May 1944.  The AGO Form 01252 (Certificate in Lieu of Lost or
Destroyed Discharge) he provides establishes his rank as Corporal, as does
the BSM certificate he provides.  He believes the undated card from the
Secretary of the Army he provides was sent to him with the Purple Heart
medal but he cannot prove this.

4.  The applicant provides the 11 documents listed on the continuation of
item    10 of his application.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error or injustice
which occurred on 16 June 1947.  The application submitted in this case was
originally dated 19 December 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.  However, there
were sufficient documents remaining in a reconstructed record for the Board
to conduct a fair and impartial review of this case.

4.  One Office of The Surgeon General hospital listing was found for the
applicant, under serial number 3_ ___ ___; however, it shows he was
hospitalized for an illness, not a battle injury, in May 1944.

5.  The applicant's Final Payment Roll, from Group K, 222d Infantry
Regiment, shows he was accepted for induction on 10 May 1944.

6.  On 13 September 1944, the applicant indicated on his insurance form
that his serial number had been changed to 4_ ___ 9___.

7.  On 20 November 1945, the applicant was honorably discharged from the
Army of the United States and enlisted in the Army Air Corps.  His WD Form
  53-55 for his service in the Army of the United States is not available.
Two National Archive Forms 13038 show he entered service on 10 May 1944 and
separated on 20 November 1945.  Both forms show his rank as Private.

8.  On 21 November 1945, the applicant enlisted in the Army Air Corps.  He
separated on 16 June 1947.  Item 2 (Army Serial No.) of his WD AGO Form
53-55 for the period ending 16 June 1947 shows his serial number as 4_  ___
8___.  Item 3 (Grade) shows his rank as Corporal.  Item 25 (Place of Entry
into Service) shows he entered that period of service from Austria.  Item
33 (Decorations and Citations) shows he was awarded the World War II
Victory Medal.  Item 39 (Prior Service) shows he completed 1 year, 6
months, and        10 days of prior service in the Army of the United
States, Infantry.  He signed the WD AGO Form 53-55 in item 56.

9.  On 10 April 1950, the applicant was awarded the BSM for meritorious
achievement in ground operations against the enemy in the European Theater
of Operations on or about 1 February 1945.

10.  In a National Archives Form 13055 (Request for Information Needed to
Reconstruct Medical Data) the applicant signed on 19 December 2003, he
indicated he had received shell fragment wounds to the back and legs around
November or December 1944.

11.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides that the Purple
Heart is awarded for a wound sustained as a result of hostile action.
Substantiating evidence must be provided to verify that the wound was the
result of hostile action, the wound must have required treatment by a
medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of
official record.

12.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) prescribes Army policy and
criteria concerning individual military awards.  In pertinent part, it
states that the CIB was established during World War II to provide special
recognition of the unique role of the Army infantryman, the only Soldier
whose daily mission is to close with and destroy the enemy and to seize and
hold terrain.  The badge was intended as an inducement for individuals to
join the infantry while serving as a morale booster for infantrymen.

13.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 states that the Bronze Star Medal was
established by Executive Order 9419, 4 February 1944.  The BSM is awarded
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.

14.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides that a bronze oak leaf cluster is
awarded to denote the second and succeeding awards of a certain
decorations, among which is the Bronze Star Medal.

15.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides for award of the European-African-
Middle Eastern Campaign Medal for qualifying service in the European-
African-Middle Eastern Theater of Operations for the period 7 December 1941
to            8 November 1945.

16.  In an 11 October 1957 Memorandum of Agreement between the Air Force
and the Army, the Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records agreed
to review cases pertaining to Army Air Corps personnel.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant's contention that he entered the service in March 1944
rather than May 1944 is noted; however, he provides no evidence to
substantiate his contention.  His final pay record from November 1945
indicates he was inducted on 10 May 1944.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 for the
period ending 16 June 1947, which he signed, shows he had completed 1 year,
6 months, and 10 days of prior service which, as he acknowledges, would
indicate he entered the service in May 1944.

2.  Other than his statement made almost 60 years afterwards, there is no
evidence of record and the applicant provides none to show he was wounded
as a result of hostile action.  Therefore, there is insufficient evidence
on which to base award of the Purple Heart.

3.  The Board accepts the available evidence of record (his WD AGO Form 53-
55 for the period ending 16 June 1947 which shows he had prior service in
the Infantry and his award of the BSM for meritorious achievement in ground
operations against the enemy on or about 1 February 1945) as sufficient to
show the applicant meets the eligibility criteria for award of the CIB.  As
a result, he also meets the eligibility criteria for award of the BSM based
on award of the CIB.

4.  In addition, the Board accepts the BSM certificate provided by the
applicant as sufficient evidence to show he was awarded a second BSM based
upon meritorious achievement on 1 February 1945 and so is authorized to
wear a bronze oak leaf cluster on the BSM.

5.  The Board also accepts the BSM certificate as sufficient evidence to
show he served in the European Theater of Operations and so meets the
eligibility criteria for award of the EAME Campaign Medal.

6.  The applicant was awarded the World War II Victory Medal, as shown on
his WD AGO Form 53-55 for the period ending 16 June 1947.

7.  Although the applicant's Army of the United States WD AGO Form 53-55 is
not available (and awards are not listed on Certifications of Service), it
would be appropriate to issue the authorized awards to the applicant.  A
copy of this Record of Proceedings will be filed in his records, and he
will be provided a copy, as evidence that he is authorized the awards as
noted in BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION below.

8.  There is insufficient evidence of record to show the applicant ended
his Army of the United States service on 20 November 1945 in the rank of
Corporal.  The available evidence of record shows he ended his Army Air
Corps service in the rank of Corporal, and it cannot be determined if the
BSM certificate took his rank
from his Army Air Corps service or from his Army of the United States
service.  Therefore, there is insufficient evidence on which to base a
correction of his rank on his National Archives Forms 13038.

9.  The Board notes that the applicant refers to errors on his WD AGO Form
  53-55, which he received from his service in the Army Air Corps.
However, in accordance with an agreement between the Army and the Air Force
he will have to submit a request to the Air Force Board for Correction of
Military Records for any corrections he wishes made to any of his Army Air
Corps records.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT RELIEF

__jns__  __hof____  __lds____    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 all Department of the Army
records of the individual concerned be corrected by issuing to him the
Combat Infantryman Badge, the Bronze Star Medal with First Oak Leaf
Cluster, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and the World
War II Victory Medal.

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
correcting his National Archive Forms 13038 to show he entered active
service in March 1944, to show his rank as Corporal, and to awarding him
the Purple Heart.




            __John N. Slone_______
                    CHAIRPERSON




                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20050000587                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |20050614                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |                                        |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |GRANT                                   |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |Mr. Schneider                           |
|ISSUES         1.       |110.04                                  |
|2.                      |107.0015                                |
|3.                      |100.00                                  |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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