RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:            21 November 2006
      DOCKET NUMBER:   AR20060005505


      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. Jessie B. Strickland          |     |Analyst              |

      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. Thomas Pagan                  |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Peter Fisher                  |     |Member               |
|     |Ms. LaVerne Douglass              |     |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 the Army of
Occupation Medal (AOM) with Japan Clasp.

2.  The applicant states that he landed in Japan on 30 August 1945 at
Atsugi, Honshu and was on guard at the airstrip as some of the first troops
to arrive in Japan.  He goes on to state that he sailed for the United
States on 25 December 1945.

3.  The applicant provides a photo copy of an operations report of the
movement of the 457th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion (PFAB) from Luzon
to Japan, which shows that the battalion advance detail departed the Lipa,
Philippines, airstrip on 12 August 1945 for Okinawa.  The remainder of the
battalion departed on 13 August 1945 and remained in bivouac near Futema,
Japan until 29 August 1945, when the battalion started moving to Atsugi
Airstrip, Honsu Japan.  The entire battalion movement was completed on 3
September 1945.  After 7 days of airport guard, the entire battalion
departed for Totsuka, where the battalion was to be quartered.  On 28
September 1945, all personnel and equipment left behind at Lipa, Luzon
arrived by rail from Sendai, Japan.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error which
occurred on 13 January 1946.  The application submitted in this case is
dated 5 April 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 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.  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 on 25 February 1943 and entered active duty
at New Cumberland, Pennsylvania, on 4 March 1943.  He was assigned to the
457th PFAB, 11th Airborne Division, at Camp Mackall, North Carolina to
undergo his training.

5.  He departed the United States from San Francisco with his unit on 5 May
1944 and arrived in New Guinea on 1 June 1944 to undergo jungle warfare
training and intensified unit ground training.  His unit departed New
Guinea on 7 November 1944 for the Philippines.  He participated in the New
Guinea, Southern Philippines, and Luzon campaigns.

6.  His unit departed Lipa, Luzon on 12 August 1945 for Okinawa to escort
General MacArthur into Japan and spearhead the occupation.  His unit landed
at Atsugi Airdrome near Tokyo on 30 August 1945 and occupied an initial
area in and around Yokohama.  They remained there until mid-September 1945,
when they moved to northern Japan.  The Division was relieved of its
occupation role in early 1945.

7.  The applicant departed Japan on 24 December 1945 and arrived in the
United States on 5 January 1946.  He was transferred to Indiantown Gap
Military Reservation, Pennsylvania, where he was honorably discharged on 13
January 1946.  He had served 2 years, 10 months and 10 days of active
service and was awarded the Parachutist Badge, the Good Conduct Medal, the
Philippine Liberation Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-
Pacific Campaign Medal with three bronze service stars and bronze arrowhead
and the World War II Victory Medal.

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides, in pertinent part,
that the Army of Occupation Medal is awarded for service of thirty
consecutive days at a normal post of duty in a qualifying location.
Personnel at a qualifying location as an inspector, courier, and escort on
temporary or detached duty are precluded from eligibility.  Qualifying
service in Japan included service in the Japanese home islands, the Ryukyu
Islands and the Bonin-Volcano Islands between 3 September 1945 and 27 April
1952.  Service between 3 September 1945 and 2 March 1946 is qualifying only
if the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal was earned prior to 3 September 1945.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Notwithstanding that the applicant’s records were destroyed in the 1973
fire at the National Personnel Records Center, there is sufficient evidence
to show that the applicant’s unit was in Japan prior to 3 September 1945,
the earliest date to qualify for award of the Army Occupation Medal with
Japan clasp.  It is reasonable to presume that the applicant was with his
unit during it’s occupation of Japan.

2.  The applicant did not depart Japan until 24 December 1945 and therefore
met the minimum requirement necessary to receive the award of the Army
Occupation Medal with Japan clasp.

3.  Accordingly, it would be in the interest of justice to award him that
medal at this time and correct his records accordingly.

4.  Records show the applicant should have discovered the error or
injustice now under consideration on 13 January 1946, the date of his
separation from active duty.  The ABCMR was not established until 2 January
1947.  Therefore, the time for the applicant to file a request for
correction of any error or injustice expired on 1 January 1950.   

BOARD VOTE:

___TP __  ___PF __  ___LD___  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 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 awarding him the Army Occupation Medal
with Japan clasp and by correcting his records accordingly.




                            _____Thomas Pagan_______
                                      CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20060005505                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |20061121                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |(HD)                                    |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |19460113                                |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |AR 615-365                              |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |DEMOB                                   |
|BOARD DECISION          |(GRANT)                                 |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |AR 15-185                               |
|ISSUES                  |113/aom                                 |
|1.107.0067              |                                        |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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