RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        14 September 2006
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20060001594


      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                 |     |Senior Analyst       |

      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. Eric N. Anderson              |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Ms. Rose M. Lys                   |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Richard O. Murphy             |     |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, in effect, that he be awarded all medals and
awards to which he is entitled, including but not limited to the CAR
(Combat Action Ribbon), the Japanese Occupation Medal, weapons awards, and
all others.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that these awards were omitted from
his separation document when he was released from active duty.

3.  In support of his application, the applicant submitted a copy of his WD
AGO Form 53-55, Enlisted Record and Report of Separation, Honorable
Discharge.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error or
injustice, which occurred on 25 February 1946, the date he was released
from active duty.  The application submitted in this case is dated 19
January 2006, but was received for processing on 1 February 2006.

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 were lost or destroyed in the National
Personnel Records Center fire of 1973.  Information herein was obtained
from the applicant's enlisted record and report of separation and from
other official Army sources.

4.  The applicant was inducted on 22 March 1943 and entered service at
Portland, Oregon, on 29 March 1943.  The applicant was honorably separated
in the rank of Private on 25 February 1946.

5.  The applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 shows, in Item 33 (Decorations and
Citations), that he was awarded the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the
American Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, and the Philippine
Liberation Ribbon.  The Combat Action Ribbon, the Japanese Occupation Medal
[correctly known as the Army of Occupation Medal, with Japan Clasp], and
other awards are not shown.
6.  Item 30 (Military Occupational Specialty and No.), of the applicant's
WD AGO Form 53-55, shows the applicant held the military occupational
specialty (MOS) 677, (Military Policeman) while he served on active duty.
Item 10 (Military Occupation Assignments), of the applicant's WD AGO Form
100, Separation Qualification Record, shows the applicant held the MOS 745
(Rifleman) for 5 months, the MOS 521 (Air Corps Basic) for 2 months, the
MOS 566 (Duty Noncommissioned Officer) for 7 months, and the MOS 677 for
21 months.

7.  Item 31 (Military Qualification and Date), of the applicant's WD AGO
Form 53-55, shows the entry, "None."  Weapons qualifications awards and
award of the Combat Infantryman Badge were normally shown in this item on
the separation document.

8.  The applicant's WD Form 372A, Final Payment-Work Sheet, prepared in
February 1946, shows the applicant's financial entitlement on his
separation date.  Payment of his entitlements was made for the period 1
December 1945 through 25 February 1946.  The applicant did not receive
combat infantry pay for this period.

9.  Item 32 (Battles and Campaigns), of the applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55,
shows that the applicant was given credit for participating in the Luzon
campaigns of World War II.

10.  The applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 shows entitlement to the Asiatic-
Pacific Campaign Medal; however, it does not show the appropriate service
star to which the applicant is entitled for his campaign participation.

11.  Item 36 (Service Outside Continental U.S. and Return), of the
applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55, shows the applicant departed the United
States on 25 May 1945 and arrived in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of
Operations (APTO) on 19 June 1945.  The applicant departed the APTO on 4
February 1946 and arrived in the United States on 16 February 1946.

12.  Department of the Army (DA) Pamphlet 672-1, Unit Citation and Campaign
Participation Credit Register, shows that the applicant's unit, the 211th
Military Police Company, was awarded credit for occupation of Japan from 25
October 1945 through 5 March 1946.

13.  DA Pamphlet 672-1 also shows the applicant's unit was awarded the
Republic of the Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation for the
period 17 October 1944 through 4 July 1945, by Department of the Army
General Orders (DAGO) Number 47, dated 1950.

14.  Department of Defense Instruction 1348.33 (Military Awards Program)
shows that the Secretary of the Navy authorized the Combat Action Ribbon on
17 February 1969.  It is awarded to members of the U.S. Navy, the U.S.
Marine Corps and the U.S. Coast Guard, in the grade of 0-6 and below,
operating under the control of the U.S. Navy who have actively participated
in ground or surface combat.  The Department of Defense Instruction lists
the actions for which the Combat Action Ribbon is authorized.  Army
personnel are not authorized award of the Combat Action Ribbon.

15.  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.  War
Department Circular 186-1944 further 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.  The Military Awards Branch of the US Army Human Resources
Command, (USAHRC) has advised in similar cases that, during World War II,
the Combat Infantryman Badge was normally awarded only to enlisted
individuals who served in the following positions:  a) Light machine gunner
(604); b) Heavy machine gunner (605), c) Platoon sergeant (651); d) Squad
leader (653); e) Rifleman (745); f) Automatic rifleman (746); g) Heavy
weapons NCO (812); and h) Gun crewman (864).

16.  All Soldiers are provided basic combat skills training after they
enter the Army.  This is provided to ensure that all Soldiers have the
survival skills to perform basic infantry missions when the need arises.
No other Soldier in combat is more exposed on a daily basis to the
dangers and hardships of war and no other branch of the service suffers
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.  The opinion does note 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.

17.  Army Regulation 670-1, in effect at the time, governed the
requirements for the Overseas Service Bar.  In pertinent part, it provided
that a bar is authorized for wear for each period of active Federal service
as a member of the U.S. Army outside of the continental limits of the
United States.  One overseas service bar is authorized for each six-month
period served in an overseas area during World War II.  To calculate the
entitlement, both the month of arrival and month of departure are counted
as a whole month no matter the number of days in that month that were spent
in the hostile fire zone.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence shows the applicant was awarded the Asiatic-Pacific
Campaign Medal.  He was awarded credit for participation in the Luzon
campaign of World War II.  He is therefore entitled to award of one bronze
service star to be affixed to his Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal and to
have it shown on his WD AGO Form 53-55.

2.  The evidence shows the applicant was assigned to a unit at the time it
was awarded credit for the occupation of Japan.  He is therefore entitled
to award of the Army of Occupation Medal, with Japan Clasp, and to have it
added to his WD AGO Form 53-55.

3.  Army personnel are not authorized award of the Combat Action Ribbon.
The Secretary of the Navy approved this award in 1969 to recognize members
of the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Coast Guard, in the
grade of 0-6 and below, operating under the control of the U.S. Navy who
actively participate in ground or surface combat.  Based on the criteria
and the date the award was approved, the applicant is therefore not
entitled to award of the Combat Action Ribbon and to have it added to his
WD AGO Form 53-55.

4.  To be awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Army equivalent of the
Combat Action Ribbon, a Soldier must have held an infantry MOS and served
in that MOS in active ground combat while assigned or attached to an
infantry unit of brigade, regimental or smaller size.

5.  The evidence shows the applicant held an infantry MOS for 5 months.
The evidence also shows he held other military occupational specialties
while he served on active duty.  The majority of his service was performed
in the MOS 677, Military Policeman.

6. There is no evidence,  and  the  applicant  provided  none  to  show,  he
participated in active ground combat and was  assigned  or  attached  to  an
infantry unit of brigade, regimental, or smaller size at the  time  he  held
and performed in the MOS 745, Rifleman.   Therefore,  based  on  a  lack  of
evidence to show he  was  assigned  or  attached  to  an  infantry  unit  of
brigade, regimental, or smaller size, and that  he  participated  in  active
ground combat at the time he held the MOS 745, he is not entitled  to  award
of the Combat Infantryman Badge and to have it added to his WD AGO Form  53-
55.

7.  Item 31, of the applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55, shows the entry, "None."
 Any weapons qualification badges the applicant may have earned during his
service would have been entered in this item.  It is apparent that since he
served as a rifleman and as a military policeman he would have qualified
with arms; however, because the applicant's service records were lost or
destroyed in the St. Louis fire of 1973, his qualification(s) in arms
cannot be determined.  Without substantive proof of his qualification(s) in
arms, the applicant is not entitled to have weapons qualification(s) added
to his WD AGO Form 53-55.

8.  The evidence shows the FSM served 10 months in an overseas area,
including the month of his departure from the United States and the month
of his arrival back in the United States.  He is therefore entitled to
award of one overseas service bar and to have this bar added to his WD AGO
Form 53-55.

9.  Records show the applicant should have discovered the alleged error or
injustice now under consideration on (enter date); therefore, the time for
the applicant to file a request for correction of any error or injustice
expired on (enter date).  The applicant did not file within the 3-year
statute of limitations; however, based on the available (evidence or
argument), it would be in the interest of justice to excuse failure to
timely file in this case.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

__ROM _  __RML__  _ena____  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:

      a.  deleting the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal from the applicant's
WD AGO Form 53-55;

      b.  awarding the applicant the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, with
one bronze service star, and adding this award to his WD AGO Form 53-55;

      c.  awarding the applicant the Army of Occupation Medal, with Japan
Clasp, for his participation in the occupation of Japan, and adding this
award to his WD AGO Form 53-55;

      d.  awarding the applicant the Republic of the Philippines
Presidential Unit Citation and adding this unit award to his WD AGO Form 53-
55; and

      e.  awarding the applicant one overseas service bar and adding this
bar to his WD AGO Form 53-55.

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
award of the Combat Action Ribbon to the applicant and its addition to his
WD AGO Form 53-55 and the addition of marksmanship qualification badges to
his WD AGO Form 53-55.




                            ____Eric N. Anderson ____
                                      CHAIRPERSON


                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20060001594                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |20060914                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |                                        |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |PARTIAL GRANT                           |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |                                        |
|ISSUES         1. 46    |107.0000                                |
|2.  76                  |107.0030                                |
|3.  106                 |107.0060 (JAPAN)                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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