RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        25 July 2006
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20050018155


      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. Beverly A. Young              |     |Analyst              |

      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. Allen Raub                    |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Ms. LaVerne Douglas               |     |Member               |
|     |Ms. Peguine Taylor                |     |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 correction of item 32 (Battles and Campaigns) on
his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation) to show he
served in China.

2.  The applicant states he served in China as part of the Mars Task Force.
 He states that there is no reference to China shown on his separation
document.  He feels that it should be included because it was a significant
event in history.

3.  The applicant provides a copy of his WD AGO Form 53-55; a copy of an
Editor’s Notes to Battery C History; a history of the 612th Field Artillery
Battalion (Pack); and a history on the Mars Task Force.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error which
occurred
on 18 January 1946.  The application submitted in this case is dated
12 December 2005.

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 was inducted into the Army on 15 September 1943 and
entered active duty on 6 October 1943.  He departed the continental United
States on 25 July 1944 and arrived in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of
Operations on
26 August 1944.

5.  The applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he was assigned to the
612th Field Artillery Battalion, Mars Task Force.

6.  Item 32 on his WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he received campaign credit for
participation in the Burma Campaign, the India Burma Campaign, and the
Central Burma Campaign.

7.  The website information on the 612th Field Artillery Battalion shows
that this unit was air lifted from Lashio, Burma to Kunming, China in April
1945 and was later assigned to Hostel 9 Field Artillery Training Center to
train Chinese artillery men on certain weapons.

8.  The Editor’s Notes to Battery C History indicates that approximately
160 men from the 612th Field Artillery Battalion were transferred to the
Field Artillery Training Center on 26 July 1945 by Special Order Number
112, Chinese Training Center.  The applicant’s name is listed on the
roster.

9.  The applicant departed the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations on
4 December 1945 and arrived in the continental United States on 6 January
1946.

10.  The applicant was honorably discharged on 18 January 1946.  His WD AGO
Form 53-55 shows he was awarded the Asiatic-Pacific Theater Campaign Medal,
the Army Good Conduct Medal, the Purple Heart, and World War II Victory
Medal.

11.  Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-1 (Unit Citation and Campaign
Participation Credit Register) dated 6 July 1961 shows, among other
information, campaign credit awarded during World War II.  This document
does not show that the unit to which the applicant was assigned, the 612th
Field Artillery Battalion, received campaign credit for participation in
China.

12.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) authorizes a bronze service
star, based on qualifying service, for each campaign listed in Appendix B
of this regulation or listed in item 32 of the WD AGO Form 53-55.  This
regulation states that authorized bronze service stars will be worn on the
appropriate campaign or service medal including the Asiatic-Pacific Theater
Campaign Medal.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The WD AGO Form 53-55 is not meant to be a record of assignments.  In
addition, it appears the appropriate officials determined the 612th Field
Artillery Battalion’s primary campaigns were in the Burma theater, not the
China theater.  Regrettably, there is no basis for granting the applicant’s
request.

2.  The applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he received credit for
participation in the Burma Campaign, the India Burma Campaign, and the
Central Burma Campaign in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations.
Therefore, he is entitled to three bronze service stars for wear on his
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal.

3.  Evidence shows that the applicant’s records contain an administrative
error which does not require action by the Board.  Therefore,
administrative correction of the applicant’s records will be accomplished
by the Case Management Support Division (CMSD), St. Louis, Missouri, as
outlined by the Board in paragraph 3 of the BOARD
DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION section below.

4.  Records show the applicant should have discovered the alleged error or
injustice now under consideration on 18 January 1946, the date of his
separation from active duty.  The ABCMR was not established until 2 January
1947.  As a result, the time for the applicant to file a request for
correction of any error or injustice expired on 1 January 1950.  The
applicant did not file within the 3-year statute of limitations and has not
provided a compelling explanation or evidence to show that it would be in
the interest of justice to excuse the failure to timely file.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

AR______  LD______  PT______  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

1.  The Board determined that the evidence presented does not demonstrate
the existence of a probable error or injustice.  Therefore, the Board
determined that the overall merits of this case are insufficient as a basis
for correction of the records of the individual concerned.

2.  As a result, the Board further determined that there is no evidence
provided which shows that it would be in the interest of justice to excuse
the applicant's failure to timely file this application within the 3-year
statute of limitations prescribed by law.  Therefore, there is insufficient
basis to waive the statute of limitations for timely filing or for
correction of the records of the individual concerned.

3.  The Board determined that an administrative error in the records of the
individual should be corrected.  Therefore, the Board requests that the
CMSD-St. Louis administratively correct the records of the individual
concerned to show three bronze service stars for wear on his Asiatic-
Pacific Campaign Medal.




                                  Allen Raub____________
                                            CHAIRPERSON

                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20050018155                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20060725                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)    |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |AR . . . . .                            |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |DENY                                    |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |Mr. Chun                                |
|ISSUES         1.       |100.0000                                |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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