RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        18 JANUARY 2006
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20050006243


      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             |
|     |Ms. Deborah L. Brantley           |     |Senior Analyst       |

      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Ms. Shirley Powell                |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Chester Damian                |     |Member               |
|     |Ms. Karmin Jenkins                |     |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 1966 separation document be corrected
to reflect entitlement to a Presidential Unit Citation, a Valorous Unit
Award, and a Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation with Palm,
which he refers to as a Vietnamese Gallantry Cross w/palm.  He also implies
he is entitled to a Distinguished Unit Citation.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, he was a member of the 257th Signal
Detachment between 1964 and 1965 and was separated from active duty before
the general orders announcing the unit awards were published.

3.  The applicant provides a copy of a page from Department of the Army
Pamphlet 672-3 showing unit awards received by the 257th Signal Company
during the Vietnam era.

4.  The applicant also requested copies of the unit award citations,
including a replacement copy of the Distinguished Unit Citation awarded in
1966 to the 121st Aviation Company and various attached units for actions
on 5 December 1964.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error or injustice
which occurred on 27 October 1966.  The application submitted in this case
is dated
15 April 1966.

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 limitations 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.  Records available to the Board indicate the applicant entered active
duty on 28 October 1963.

4.  In July 1964 the applicant was assigned to the 255th Signal Detachment
in Vietnam.  In August 1964 he was reassigned to the 257th Signal
Detachment where he remained until June 1965 when he returned to the United
States.

5.  On 27 October 1966 the applicant was released from active duty with an
honorable characterization of service.  His separation document reflects
entitlement to the National Defense Service Medal, the Army Good Conduct
Medal, and the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal.

6.  A review of Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-3 (Unit Citation and
Campaign Participation Credit Register) notes the 257th Signal Detachment
was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation for its actions on 27 and 28
August 1965, two awards of the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit
Citation with Palm, one for the period 1 March 1966 through 26 March 1967
and a second for the period 27 March 1967 through 17 May 1968.  The unit
was also awarded a Valorous Unit Award for actions between 4 and 6 April
1965.  Soldiers are only authorized permanent wear of a unit decoration if
the decoration was awarded while the individual was a member of the
organization.

7.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 notes that on 3 November 1966 the
Distinguished Unit Citation was redesignated as the Presidential Unit
Citation.

8.  The Distinguished Unit Citation, which the applicant provided with his
application, contains no official identification and may have come from an
unofficial unit association activity.  The document indicates that the
121st Aviation Company, and several attached units, including the 257th
Signal Detachment, were awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation for actions
on
5 December 1964 and that President Johnson announced the award on 7 March
1966.  Although Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-3 does not confirm that
any of the units identified in the citation were awarded any unit citation
for action on 5 December 1964, it does confirm that most of the named units
received a Presidential Unit Citation for action on 27 and 28 August 1965.

9.  This Board does not have copies of unit award citations.  The applicant
may be able to obtain copies of the citations he is seeking from the
National Achieves and Record Center located at 8601 Adelphi Road, College
Park, Maryland 20740-6001.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence available to the Board does confirm the applicant's unit,
the 257th Signal Detachment was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation, a
Valorous Unit Award, and two awards of the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry
Cross Unit Citation with Palm.  However, the applicant was assigned to the
unit only during the period when the unit was awarded the Valorous Unit
Award.  As such, he is entitled to permanent wear of only that decoration
and his records should be corrected accordingly.

2.  Unfortunately, there is also no evidence which confirms the applicant's
unit was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation as the unofficial award
citation included with his application suggests.  It appears there may have
been some confusion with the type of award and actual dates for most of the
units identified in the unofficial document.  In the absence of more
compelling evidence that the applicant's unit was in fact awarded a
Distinguished Unit Citation as part of an action with the 121st Aviation
Company in December 1965, there is no basis to correct his record to
reflect that decoration.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

__SP ___  __CD ___  __KJ____  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 showing entitlement to
a Valorous Unit Award.

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
entitlement to a Presidential Unit Citation, a Republic of Vietnam
Gallantry Cross Unit Citation with Palm, or a Distinguished Unit Citation.





                            ______Shirley Powell_______
                                      CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20050006243                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20060118                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)    |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |AR . . . . .                            |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |PARTIAL GRANT                           |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |                                        |
|ISSUES         1.       |107.00                                  |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


-----------------------
[pic]