RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        3 April 2007
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20060012660


      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      |
|     |Mrs. Nancy L. Amos                |     |Analyst              |

      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. John P. 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 that Department of the Army Pamphlet (DA Pam)
672-1 (Unit Citation and Campaign Participation Credit Register) be
corrected to show G Troop, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, was
awarded occupation credit for Japan.

2.  The applicant states he served in G Troop, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st
Cavalry Division from 6 July 1944 to 2 February 1946, and from 2 September
1945 to       9 January 1946 he was on occupation duty in Japan.  He
requested the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) to authorize
awarding him the Army of Occupation Medal with Japan clasp; however, the
NPRC denied him the medal because the Register does not list the unit with
occupation credit.  He thereupon gathered records from various sources that
he believes provide sufficient documentation to show his unit was indeed on
occupation duty in Japan for many years.  However, the NPRC still would not
authorize the medal until the Register was corrected.

3.  The applicant provides a 5-page extract from the monograph “Of Garry
Owen in Glory, The History of the Seventh United States Cavalry Regiment,”
with a cover letter from the U. S. Army War College and Carlisle Barracks,
dated         27 June 2006; three Directories of the Army of the United
States (Outside Continental Limits of the United States), dated 1 November
1945, 1 December 1945, and 1 January 1946; and a 3-page excerpt from
General Headquarters, Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers and United
States Army Forces Pacific, G-3 Operations Report for 7 and 8 September
1945, with a cover letter from the City of Norfolk, Department of Civic
Facilities, dated 28 June 2006.

4.  The applicant also provides an extract from DA Pam 672-1, with a cover
letter to the applicant’s Representative from the NPRC dated 12 May 2006;
three Unit Historical Reports (1948, 1947, and 1946) from Headquarters, 7th
Cavalry, with an undated cover letter from the National Archives and
Records Administration; a 24 August 2006 letter from the NRPC to the
applicant; a 9 August 2006 letter from the applicant to the NPRC; a copy of
his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation); and his
Honorable Discharge Certificate.

COUNSEL'S REQUEST, STATEMENT AND EVIDENCE:

Counsel makes no additional statement.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error or injustice
which occurred on 3 February 1946.  The application submitted in this case
is dated     12 August 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 into Army and entered active duty on 6 July
1944. He arrived in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations on 18
February 1945.  He departed the theatre on 9 January 1946.  He separated on
3 February 1946.

5.  The applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 shows his organization as the 7th
Cavalry Regiment.  It shows he participated in two campaigns; served as a
rifleman (specialty 745); and was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge, the
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the Philippine Liberation Ribbon, the Army
Good Conduct Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal.

6.  The applicant provided a 5-page extract from the monograph “Of Garry
Owen in Glory, The History of the Seventh United States Cavalry Regiment,”
with a cover letter from the U. S. Army War College and Carlisle Barracks.
In pertinent part, the monograph states General MacArthur’s Headquarters
selected the 1st Cavalry Division to accompany the Supreme Commander into
Tokyo and be a part of the Eighth Army in the occupation of Japan.  On 2
September 1945, the [7th Cavalry Regiment] made an assault landing on the
beaches of Yokohama with other elements of the Division.  After settling
in, the remainder of 1945 was spent in occupation duties including the
seizing and disposing of munitions, inventorying precious items captured by
the Japanese, and conducting patrols in search of hidden Japanese
implements of war.
7.  The applicant provided three Unit Historical Reports (1948, 1947, and
1946) from Headquarters, 7th Cavalry, with an undated cover letter from the
National Archives and Records Administration.  The 1948 Unit Historical
Report states the Regiment had been on occupation duty in Japan since 8
September 1945.

8.  Technical Manual 12-235, which prescribed the policy and procedures for
the preparation and distribution of separation documents during the period
in question, stated that the last unit, or similar element to which the
individual was assigned, rather than the element of which he was a part
while moving to a separation activity, would be entered in item 6
(organization) of the WD AGO Form 53-55.

9.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides, in pertinent part,
that the Army of Occupation Medal is awarded for service of 30 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.

10.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 authorizes a bronze service star, based on
qualifying service, for each campaign listed in item 32 (Battles and
Campaigns) of the WD AGO Form 53-55.  This regulation states authorized
bronze service stars will be worn on the appropriate campaign or service
medal including the Asiatic-Pacific Eastern Campaign Medal.

11.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides for award of the Bronze Star Medal
to any person who distinguished himself or herself by heroic or meritorious
achievement or service, not involving participation in aerial flight, in
connection with military operations against an armed enemy.  It also
provides for award of the Bronze Star Medal to members of the armed forces
who, after 6 December 1941 and prior to 3 September 1945, have been cited
in orders or in a formal certificate for meritorious or exemplary conduct
in ground combat against the armed enemy.  A citation in orders for the
Combat Infantryman Badge or Medical Badge awarded in the field during the
period of actual combat against the armed enemy is considered as a citation
for exemplary conduct in ground combat.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant provided sufficient official historical documentation to
show the 7th Cavalry Regiment was on occupation duty at least from 8
September 1945 through 1948.

2.  Almost all of the applicant’s service records were lost or destroyed in
the 1973 NPRC fire; however, his WD AGO Form 53-55 shows his organization
as the 7th Cavalry Regiment.  Although it cannot be confirmed when he was
assigned to the Regiment, his assertion that he was with the unit for at
least 30 days is credible.

3.  The Board will not correct DA Pam 672-1.  For one reason, the full
extent of the 7th Cavalry Regiment’s tour of occupation in Japan is not
known from the available evidence.  However, the available evidence is
accepted as sufficient to show the applicant is eligible for award of the
Army of Occupation Medal with Japan clasp.

4.  The applicant is eligible for award of the Bronze Star Medal based upon
award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.  He is also eligible for award of
two bronze service stars to be worn on his already-awarded Asiatic-Pacific
Campaign Medal.

5.  Records show the applicant should have discovered the alleged error or
injustice now under consideration on 3 February 1946; therefore, the time
for   the applicant to file a request for correction of any error or
injustice expired on     1 January 1950 (3 years after the Board was
established on 2 January 1947).  The applicant did not file within the 3-
year statute of limitations; however, based on the available evidence and
argument, it would be in the interest of justice to excuse failure to
timely file in this case.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

__jpi___  __jap___  __qas___  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 the WD AGO Form 53-55 of the
individual concerned be corrected by adding the Army of Occupation Medal
with Japan clasp, the Bronze Star Medal, and two bronze service stars for
wear on his already-awarded Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal.

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
correcting Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-1 to show G Troop, 7th
Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, was awarded occupation credit for
Japan.




                            __John P. Infante_____
                                      CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20060012660                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |20070403                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |                                        |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |GRANT                                   |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |Mr. Schwartz                            |
|ISSUES         1.       |107.0067                                |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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