RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        3 April 2007
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20060011396


      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. Gerard W. Schwartz            |     |Acting Director      |
|     |Mr. Joseph A. Adriance            |     |Analyst              |

      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. John Infante                  |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Ms. Susan A. Powers               |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Qawiy A. Sabree               |     |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 Prisoner of
War (POW) Medal.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that he was a POW and is entitled to
the POW Medal and to the other awards in question.

3.  The applicant provides Enlisted Record and Report of Separation-
Honorable Discharge (WD AGO Form 53-55) and a Separation Qualification
Record (WD AGO Form 100) in support of his application.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error or injustice
that occurred on 26 November 1945, the date of his separation.  The
application submitted in this case is dated 31 July 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.  This case is being
considered using reconstructed records, which primarily consist of the
applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55, WD AGO Form 100, and a Final Payment-Work
Sheet (WD Form 372A).

4.  The applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he was inducted into the Army
and entered active duty on 10 May 1943.  He served in military occupational
specialty 657 (Medical Corpsman-Litter Bearer) and was assigned to the
106th Infantry Division Medical Detachment.  It also shows that he served
in the ETO from 24 October 1944 through 30 June 1945, and that he
participated in the Ardennes-Alsace and Rhineland campaigns of World War
II.
5.  Item 31 (Military Qualifications) of the applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55
shows that he received the Combat Medical Badge (CMB) and Item 33
(Decorations and Citations) shows that during his active duty tenure, he
earned the American Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, EAME
Campaign Medal and Army Good Conduct Medal.

6.  The applicant's WD AGO Form 100 shows, in the MOS/Assignment section,
that the applicant was a POW for five months.  It also shows that while
serving in the ETO, he was assigned to the 423rd Infantry Regiment and was
responsible for giving first aid treatment to wounded men and for carrying
the wounded to a medical aid station.

7.  A Final Payment-Work Sheet pertaining to the applicant that remains in
his National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) file contains an entry
indicating the applicant was a POW and that he was receiving combat medical
badge pay.

8.  A Request for Information (VA Form 70-3101-4) was submitted on the
applicant on 2 May 1990.  This form requested verification of the
applicant's POW status from 19 December 1944 through 2 May 1945.

9.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) contains the Army's awards
policy.  Paragraph 2-9 contains guidance on the POW Medal.  It states, in
pertinent part, that the POW Medal is authorized to members who were taken
prisoner and held captive after 5 April 1917.

10.  Paragraph 3-13 of the awards regulation contains guidance on the
Bronze Star Medal (BSM).  Paragraph 13d (2) states, in effect, that the BSM
is authorized to members of the Armed Forces of the United States who,
after
6 December 1941, were cited in orders or awarded a certificate for
exemplary conduct in ground combat against an armed enemy between 7
December 1941 and 2 September 1945.  This paragraph also stipulates that
for this purpose, an award of the CMB is considered as a citation in
orders.

11.  Paragraph 5-13 of the awards regulation contains guidance on the EAME
Campaign Medal.  It states, in pertinent part, that a bronze service star
is authorized with this award for each campaign a member is credited with
participating in while serving in the ETO.

12.  Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-1 (Unit Campaign Participation
Credit Register-World War II) establishes the eligibility of individual
members for campaign participation credit, assault landing credit, and unit
citation badges awarded during World War II.  This source confirms that
during his tenure of assignment, the applicant’s unit (423rd Infantry
Regiment) was credited with participating in the Ardennes-Alsace,
Rhineland, and Northern France campaigns of World War II.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant's contention that he was a POW and is entitled to the POW
Medal was carefully considered and found to have merit.  The applicant's
WD AGO Form 100 contains an entry confirming the applicant was a POW for
5 months, and his Final Pay-Work Sheet has an entry that corroborates his
POW status.  Therefore, it would be appropriate to award him the POW Medal
and to add the entry "POW 19 December 1944-2 May 1945" to Item 55 (Remarks)
of his WD AGO Form 53-55.

2.  The evidence also confirms that based on the applicant having earned
the CMB, he is also entitled to the BSM for his exemplary conduct in ground
combat against an armed enemy in the ETO from 24 October 1944 to 15 June
1945.  Therefore, it would be appropriate to award him the BSM and to add
it to the list of authorized awards contained on his separation document at
this time.

3.  The evidence also shows that he received participation credit for the
Ardennes-Alsace, Rhineland, and Northern France campaigns of World War II.
As a result, it would also be appropriate to add this campaign to the
campaigns already listed in Item 32 of his WD AGO Form 53-55, and to show
his entitlement to 3 bronze service stars with his EAME Campaign Medal.

BOARD VOTE:

___JI   __  __SAP __  __QAS  _  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:

      a.  awarding him the Prisoner of War Medal and Bronze Star Medal;

      b.  amending his WD AGO Form 53-55 by adding the "Northern France"
campaign to Item 32, by deleting the current list of awards in Item 33 and
replacing it with the entry "Bronze Star Medal, Prisoner of War Medal, Army
Good Conduct Medal, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle
Eastern Campaign Medal with 3 bronze service stars, World War II Victory
Medal", and by adding the entry "POW 19 December 1944-2 May 1945" to
Item 55; and

      c.  providing him a correction to his separation document that
includes these changes.




                            _____John Infante________
                                      CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20060011396                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |2007/04/03                              |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |HD                                      |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |1945/11/26                              |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |AR 615-365                              |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |Demobilization                          |
|BOARD DECISION          |GRANT PLUS                              |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |Mr. Schwartz                            |
|ISSUES         1.  46   |107.0000                                |
|2.  1021                |100.0000                                |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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