RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:      28 September 2006
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20060001663


      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:

|     |Ms. Linda D. Simmons              |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Paul M. Smith                 |     |Member               |
|     |Ms. Alice Muellerweiss            |     |Member               |

      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, reconsideration of his earlier
appeal to correct his military records by adding the Army Commendation
Medal to the awards he received for his service in Vietnam.

2.  The applicant adds a new request, in effect, that The Order of the Red
Ant, an award he received on 25 September 2003, at his unit's reunion, be
added to his DD Form 214, Armed Forces of the United States, Report of
Transfer or Discharge.

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that he was sent the Army
Commendation Medal by mail from Fort Hamilton.  He had misplaced the
paperwork and assumed the Army would be able to retrieve it.  The ironic
part is that this is the only award that he requested that was denied.

4.  The applicant also states, in effect, that he would like for his
official Army records to include a recent unofficial award that means more
to him and other brave men of his unit than any phony award received by
senior ranking officers and noncommissioned officers.  He adds that he,
like 98 percent of the front line Soldiers in his unit, was a draftee.  The
3rd brigade commander had a verbal policy that medals were reserved for
Regular Army career Soldiers.  Thus, just about every officer in the
brigade, above the rank of captain, was awarded a Silver Star.  The
attached citation that accompanies the awarding of the Order of the Red Ant
explains the situation.  The applicant summarizes his request by certifying
that he was awarded The Order of the Red Ant at a reunion of Alpha Company,
2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry, in San Antonio, Texas, on 25 September 2003,
by both his Vietnam company commanders.

5.  The applicant provides, a copy of a letter from Headquarters, Fort
Hamilton, New York, dated 11 March 1970; a copy of an award certificate for
the Army Commendation Medal, dated 29 October 1967; and an award
certificate and a citation pertaining to award of The Order of the Red Ant,
in support of his request for reconsideration of his earlier appeal.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  Incorporated herein by reference are military records that were
summarized in the previous consideration of the applicant's case by the
Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR), in Docket Number
AR20040007583, on 23 June 2005.

2.  Item 31 (Foreign Service), of the applicant's DA Form 20, Enlisted
Qualification Record, shows he served in Vietnam from 22 September 1966
through 21 September 1967.

3.  Item 38 (Record of Assignments), of the applicant's DA Form 20, shows
he was assigned to Vietnam as part of a unit permanent change of station
with Company A, 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry (Mechanized), 4th Infantry
Division, on 22 September 1966.  The unit's history reveals it was
reassigned from the 4th Infantry Division and assigned to the 25th Infantry
Division on 1 August 1967.

4.  Item 41 (Award and Decorations), of the applicant's DA Form 20, shows
he was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service
Medal, the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, the Purple Heart, the Combat
Infantryman Badge, and the Expert Marksmanship Qualification Badge with
Rifle Bar.  The Army Commendation Medal is not shown among his authorized
awards.  Addition of the Presidential Unit Citation; the Republic of
Vietnam Gallantry Cross, with Palm, Unit Citation; the Republic of Vietnam
Civil Actions Honor Medal, First Class, Unit Citation; and two bronze
service stars, for wear on his already-awarded Vietnam Service Medal were
approved for addition to his DD Form 214 and directed by the Record of
Proceedings, dated 23 June 2005.  The addition of the Army Commendation
Medal to his DD Form 214 was denied in these same Proceedings.

5.  As indicated in the original Record of Proceedings, the applicant
departed Vietnam on 22 September 1967 and was transferred to Oakland Army
Base, California, where he was honorably released from active duty, on
23 September 1967, as an overseas returnee.

6.  Neither a copy of general orders, a citation, or an awards certificate
awarding the applicant the Army Commendation Medal are in his service
personnel records. It is noted the applicant was released from active duty
on 23 September 1967 and the award certificate was not dated until the
month of October 1967.

7.  An inquiry was made to the Army Human Resources Command's Awards Branch
and a search of the Awards and Decorations Computer-assisted Retrieval
System was conducted.  General orders awarding the applicant the Army
Commendation Medal were not found.

8.  The applicant provided a copy of a letter addressed to him from
Headquarters, Fort Hamilton, New York, dated 11 March 1970.  In the text
of the letter, he was informed by the Assistant Adjutant General,
Headquarters, Fort Hamilton, that the Awards and Decorations Section had
received the Army Commendation Medal for presentation to him.  The
applicant was asked to inform them if he wanted to have the award mailed
to his home or if he wanted a presentation ceremony which they could
arrange at Fort Hamilton.  The letter was addressed to the applicant at
the address shown in Item 21 (Home of Record at the Time of Entry into
Active Service), of the applicant's DD Form 214.

9.  The applicant provided a copy of an award certificate which awards
the Army Commendation Medal to him, for meritorious service, for the
period September 1966 to August 1967.  The certificate was signed, on
about 29 October 1967, by Major General F.K. Mearns, the (then) Commander
of the 25th Infantry Division.

10.  The applicant was awarded The Order of the Red Ant on 25 September
2003.  The applicant stated in his letter to the Board this award was
received by him in San Antonio during his unit's reunion.

11.  AR 635-5 prescribes policies and procedures regarding separation
documents. Paragraph 2-4 provides specific guidance for the completion of
the DD Form 214.  Paragraph 2-4.h (13) provides that awards and
decorations for all periods of service in the priority sequence specified
in AR 600-8-22 will be entered on DD Form 214.  Each entry will be
verified by the Soldier's record and abbreviations will not be used.

12.  Commemorative medals, honorary awards made by pseudo-military
organizations, regimental associations, and other groups, to include
reunion groups, are not recognized as part of the Army's Awards Program and
are not governed by AR 600-8-22.  Since they are not governed by the
applicable regulation, these awards will not be shown on a Soldier's DD
Form 214.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant served in the Republic of Vietnam from 22 September
1966 through 21 September 1967.  While he served in Vietnam, he was
assigned to Company A, 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry (Mechanized), which
was assigned to the 4th Infantry Division but was reassigned to the 25th
Infantry Division on 1 August 1967.

2.  The applicant was released from active duty on 23 September 1967.

3.  The award certificate the applicant provided the Board for its review
shows the applicant was awarded the Army Commendation Medal for the period
September 1966 to August 1967.

4.  The letter addressed to him from Headquarters, Fort Hamilton, New
York, dated 11 March 1970, was addressed to the applicant at the address
shown on his DD Form 214 as his home of record at the time of his entry
into active service.  The letter inquired of the applicant if he wanted
the award sent to him by mail or if he wanted a presentation ceremony.

5.  Notwithstanding the lack of general orders awarding the applicant the
Army Commendation Medal, there is sufficient information to show the
award may not have been submitted into the system on a timely basis to
allow it to be awarded to him before his departure from his unit in
Vietnam.

6.  The evidence shows that the month before his departure from Vietnam,
his unit had been reassigned from the 4th Infantry Division to the 25th
Infantry Division.  This transfer of the unit, from division to division,
could have compounded any delay that might have been encountered and the
approved award may have been misdirected in administrative channels
resulting in the loss of the pertinent general orders.

7.  The evidence shows the applicant was released from active duty in
Oakland California; yet, the correspondence pertinent to the award came
to him from Fort Hamilton, New York.

8.  The evidence clearly shows there was a more than two year delay after
the applicant's release from active duty until he was contacted by Army
officials about the award.  It is likely, in a wartime environment, that
administrative errors occurred; and documents, such as the general
orders, were not placed in files as required, thus resulting in their
loss.

9.  The information suggests that the award was misrouted and/or
misaddressed and was caught up in a backlog of other documents for which
an address had to be identified before it could be sent to the intended
recipient.  The applicant should not be penalized for the delays and the
apparent errors that may have occurred in the processing of his Army
Commendation Medal.  Therefore, based on the available evidence, the
applicant is entitled to have the Army Commendation Medal added to his DD
Form 214.

10.  The Order of the Red Ant is an unofficial award which was presented
to the applicant at a reunion of his unit on 25 September 2003, well
after his release from active duty.  Notwithstanding this fact, reunion
group awards, commemorative medals, honorary awards made by pseudo-
military organizations, regimental
associations, and other groups are not recognized as part of the Army's
Awards Program and therefore are not authorized for addition to a
Soldier's DD Form 214.  The applicant is therefore not entitled to have
this unofficial award added to his DD Form 214.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

__LDS__  __Am___  ____PMS_  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

1.  The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to
warrant amendment of the ABCMR’s decision in Docket Number AR20040007583
dated 23 June 2005.  As a result, the Board recommends that all Department
of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by adding the
Army Commendation Medal to the applicant's DD Form 214.

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
addition of The Order of the Red Ant to the applicant's DD Form 214.




                                  ____Linda D. Simmons_____
                                            CHAIRPERSON

                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20060001663                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |20050623                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20060928                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |                                        |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |PARTIAL GRANT                           |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |                                        |
|ISSUES         1.  46   |107.0000                                |
|2.   66                 |107.0020                                |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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