RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        26 October 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20050001153


      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:

|     |Mr. James E. Vick                 |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Conrad V. Meyer               |     |Member               |
|     |Ms. Linda M. Barker               |     |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, the brother of a deceased World War II Soldier, a former
service member (FSM), requests, in effect, that his brother be awarded the
Combat Infantryman Badge, and the Bronze Star Medal.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that his brother, the FSM, was a squad
leader who was killed in action while he served with the 346th Infantry
Regiment, 87th Infantry Division, and he should have been awarded the
Combat Infantryman Badge, the Bronze Star Medal, the Good Conduct Medal,
and the Expert Infantryman Badge.  He states that his brother did not
receive these awards after he was killed and he did not know his brother
was due these until he applied to receive his brother's other awards.

3.  The applicant provides several documents, including a copy of his birth
certificate to prove proper interest, and a copy of a WD AGO Form 52-1,
Report of Death, dated 2 January 1945, in support of his request.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The FSM's military records were lost or destroyed in the National
Personnel Records Center Fire of 1973.  Information herein was obtained
from reconstructed service records and information obtained from
alternate sources.

2.  Records available to the Board show the FSM was inducted into the Army
of the United States on 5 February 1943 and he entered service on the same
date.  The FSM was awarded the military occupational specialty 756,
Rifleman, on 9 June 1943.

3.  A WD AGO Form 9790, Record of Award of Infantryman Badge, shows the FSM
was awarded the Expert Infantryman Badge on 30 May 1944, in General Orders
11, published by Headquarters, 346th Infantry Regiment.

4.  The Report of Death that the applicant submitted shows that the FSM was
killed in action on 16 December 1944.  At the time of his death, the FSM
was serving in the rank of Staff Sergeant and was being paid expert
infantryman pay.

5.  A form in the FSM's Service Record, WD AGO Form 24, whose number was
burned from the form, titled, Notice of Award of Decoration, prepared in
the Office of The Adjutant General, Washington, D.C. on 25 January 1945,
shows the FSM was awarded the Purple Heart, posthumously.

6.  An unidentifiable page from the FSM's service record shows that he
departed from New York en route to Scotland on 17 October 1944.  The FSM
had served 8 months and 13 days of Continental United States service on the
date of his departure to the European Theater of Operations.

7.  Insert number one to the FSM's service record shows that the FSM
departed from the United Kingdom on 27 November 1944 and arrived in France
on 28 November 1944.  The insert sheet also shows that he was awarded the
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal per War Department Circular
62, dated February 1944.  The FSM was awarded the Good Conduct Medal
by General Orders 3, Headquarters, 346th Infantry, dated 14 March 1944.

8.  War Department Circular 269-1943 established the Combat Infantryman
Badge and the Expert Infantryman Badge to recognize and provide an
incentive to infantrymen.  The Expert Infantryman Badge was to be awarded
for attainment of certain proficiency standards or by satisfactory
performance of duty in action against the enemy.  The Combat Infantryman
Badge was awarded for exemplary conduct in action against the enemy.

9.  War Department Circular 186-1944 provided that the Combat Infantryman
Badge was to be awarded only to infantrymen serving with infantry units of
brigade, regimental or smaller size.  Additionally, World War II holders of
the Combat Infantryman Badge received a monthly pay supplement known as
combat infantry pay and holders of the Expert Infantryman Badge were
entitled to expert infantry pay.  Therefore, Soldiers had economic as well
as intangible reasons to ensure that their records were correct.  Thus, pay
records are frequently the best available source to verify entitlement to
this award.

10.  The Awards Branch, US Army Human Resources Command, has advised
in similar cases that, a) during World War II, the Combat Infantryman Badge
was normally awarded only to enlisted individuals who served in the
following positions:  Light Machine Gunner, MOS 604; Heavy Machine Gunner,
MOS 605; Platoon Sergeant, MOS 651; Squad Leader, MOS 653; Rifleman, MOS
745; Automatic Rifleman, MOS 746; Heavy Weapons Noncommissioned Officer,
MOS 812; and Gun Crewman, MOS 864; b) all Soldiers were provided basic
combat skills training after they entered the Army.  This was provided to
ensure that all Soldiers had the survival skills to perform basic infantry
missions when the need arose.  However, no other Soldier in combat was more
exposed on a daily basis to the dangers and hardships of war, and no other
branch of the service suffered more casualties than the infantry.  To
maintain the prestige,
uniqueness, and traditional value of the Combat Infantryman Badge, the
criteria for award has changed little over the years; and c) the opinion
notes that the exigencies of combat may require non-infantry Soldiers to
temporarily perform the basic infantry duties that all Soldiers are taught
but, it is not a basis for the award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.

11.  AR 600-8-22 also 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.

12.  AR 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, for award of the World War II
Victory Medal.  It is awarded for service between 7 December 1941 and 31
December 1946, both dates inclusive.

13.  The applicant participated in the Ardennes – Alsace Campaign of World
War II, which extended from 16 December 1944 through 25 January 1945.

14.  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 Vietnam Service Medal.  The
regulation further provides that one silver service star will be worn in
lieu of five bronze service stars.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The FSM was an infantryman who held the MOS of Rifleman; he served in
an Infantry Regiment in an Infantry Division on the date he was killed in
action in France during World War II.  He was awarded the Purple Heart,
posthumously.

2.  The Combat Infantryman Badge was awarded to recognize and to provide an
incentive to infantrymen; it was awarded to infantrymen for exemplary
conduct in action against the enemy; and was awarded only to infantrymen
serving with
infantry units of brigade, regimental or smaller size.  The FSM met the
criteria for award of the Combat Infantryman Badge when he gave his life on
the battlefield on 16 December 1944.  He is therefore eligible for award
of the Combat Infantryman Badge and to have it added to his military
service record.

3.  With award of the Combat Infantryman Badge in these Proceedings by the
Board, the FSM 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 FSM the Bronze Star Medal and to add it to his service record at
this time.

4.  The FSM served honorably in the Army of the United States from the date
of his induction, 5 February 1943 through the date of his death, 16
December 1944. He is therefore entitled to award of the World War II
Victory Medal and to have it added to his service record.

5.  The FSM was awarded the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal.
 The evidence shows that he participated in the Ardennes-Alsace campaign of
World War II.  He is therefore entitled to award of one bronze service star
to be affixed to his European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal and to
have it added to his service record.

BOARD VOTE:

_CVM_____  _JEV___  _LB___  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.  As a result, the Board recommends that all
Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by:

      a.  awarding the FSM the Combat Infantryman Badge and adding this
award to his WD AGO Form 24;

      b.  awarding the FSM the Bronze Star Medal based on his having been
awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge during World War II and adding this
award to his WD AGO Form 24; and

      c.  awarding the FSM the World War II Victory Medal and awarding
the applicant one bronze service star to be affixed to his European-
African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal and adding these awards to the
FSM's WD AGO Form 24.





                                  _____James E. Vick_______
                                            CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20050001153                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |2005/10/26                              |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |                                        |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |GRANT                                   |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |                                        |
|ISSUES         1.46     |107.0000                                |
|2.157                   |107.0111                                |
|3.60                    |107.0014                                |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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