RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


	IN THE CASE OF:	  


	BOARD DATE:	  21 June 2007
	DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20060015403 


	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.


Ms. Catherine C. Mitrano

Director

Mr. Michael J. Fowler

Analyst


The following members, a quorum, were present:


Ms. Sherri V. Ward

Chairperson

Mr. Richard T. Dunbar

Member

Mr. David W. Tucker

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 reconsideration of an earlier appeal that his records show award of the Combat Medical Badge. 

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that he is submitting new documentation to show that he served in combat with H Company, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division as a company aid man.  He believes that he should be awarded the Combat Medical Badge.

3. The applicant provides his self-authored WWII story, dated 1 March 2006; a witness statement from a former fellow Soldier, dated 8 August 2006; a WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation-Honorable Discharge), dated 3 October 1945; an Army of the United States Discharge Certificate, dated 
3 October 1945; a photo copy of the applicant's military identification card; a copy of a Medical Department Red Cross identification card; a Medical Department Form 52b, dated 13 December 1944; a page with three pictures of the applicant in military uniform; and an extract from the 2nd Division (Indian Head) Association Roster, dated 1 June 2006. 

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  Incorporated herein by reference are military records which were summarized in the previous consideration of the applicant's case by the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) in Docket Number AR20050017353 on 25 July 2006.

2.  The applicant's contentions are new documentation that will be considered by the Board.  His military medical records were previously not available to the Board for review.  However, they are now available for the Board and will be used along with his new documentation.

3.  The applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 with the ending period 3 October 1945 shows he was inducted on 17 September 1942 and entered active duty on 
1 October 1942.  Records show that the applicant arrived in the European Theater of Operations on 19 October 1943.  

4.  The applicant provides a Medical Department Form 52b, dated 13 December 1944, that shows he was treated at the regimental aid station in Belgium for an injury he received to his thumb while evacuating casualties.  The medical document further shows his unit was Medical Detachment, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division.  

5.  A 312th Station Hospital, Summary Clinical Record, dated 31 January 
1945 shows that the applicant was diagnosed with combat exhaustion and that he was admitted to the hospital on 9 January 1945.  His organization at that time shows Medical Detachment, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division.  The document further shows the applicant was in combat more than six months as a company aid man.  He was sent to the rear to work at an aid station and remained for two weeks and then returned to the front where he stayed for three and half months.

6.  The applicant departed the European Theater of Operations on 11 June 1945. He was honorably discharged on 3 October 1945.

7.  Item 31 (Military Qualification and Date) of the applicant's WD AGO Form 
53-55 does not show award of the Combat Medical Badge.

8.  Item 33 (Decorations and Citations) shows the applicant was awarded the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater Campaign Medal, the Bronze Star Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal, and the Purple Heart.

9.  Item 37 (Continental Service) shows the applicant served 1 year and 27 days in the Continental United States.

10.  The applicant provides a witness statement from a former fellow Soldier, dated 8 August 2006.  The author stated that he and the applicant were both aid men assigned to the Medical Detachment, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division from 1942 to 1945.  The author further stated that he and the applicant both served in combat from D+1 until the Battle of the Bulge.

11.  There are no orders in the applicant's service personnel records awarding him the Combat Medical Badge.

12.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) prescribes Army policy and procedures concerning awards, in pertinent part, that the Combat Medical Badge is awarded to medical department personnel (colonel and below) who are assigned or attached to a medical unit of company or smaller size that is organic to an infantry unit of brigade, regimental or smaller size which is engaged in active ground combat.  Battle participation credit is not sufficient; the infantry unit must have been in contact with the enemy and the Soldier must have been personally present and under fire during such ground combat.



13. Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Bronze Star Medal is awarded for heroism and for meritorious achievement or service in military operations against an armed enemy.  The Bronze Star Medal is authorized for each individual who was cited in orders or awarded a certificate for exemplary conduct in ground combat between 7 December 1941 and 2 September 1945 or whose achievement or service, during that period, was confirmed by documents executed prior to 1 July 1947.  An award of the Combat Infantryman Badge or the Combat Medical Badge is considered to be a citation in orders.  This means, in effect, that the Bronze Star Medal is to be awarded to individuals who were authorized either badge for service during World War II.

14.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, for award of the American Campaign Medal.  This campaign medal is awarded for qualifying service in the American Theater between 7 December 1941 and 2 March 1946.  Qualifying service for this campaign medal includes permanent assignment outside the continental United States but within the American Theater of Operations, duty as a crewmember aboard a vessel sailing ocean waters for 30 consecutive or 60 nonconsecutive days, or duty outside the continental United States as a passenger or in a temporary duty status for 30 consecutive or 60 nonconsecutive days, or active combat against the enemy and was awarded a combat decoration or furnished a certificate by a corps commander or higher, or service within the continental United States for an aggregate period of one year.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  There are no orders in the applicant's service personnel records that show he was awarded the Combat Medical Badge.  However, the Medical Department Form 52b, the former fellow witness statement, and 312th Station Hospital, Summary Clinical Record verified that the applicant served as an aid man assigned to the Medical Detachment, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division while engaged with enemy forces.  

2.  The Board accepts the verification from the above documents as sufficient to show the applicant is eligible for award of the Combat Medical Badge and therefore, also the Bronze Star Medal 1st Oak Leaf Cluster.

3.  The applicant met the eligibility criteria for award of the American Campaign Medal.  This award should be added to his WD AGO Form 53-55.





BOARD VOTE:

__SVW__  __RTD__  __DWT__  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 relief and amendment of ABCMR’s decision in Docket Number AR20050017353, dated 25 July 2006.  As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by:

	a.  awarding him the Combat Medical Badge and the Bronze Star Medal 1st Oak Leaf Cluster (based on award of the Combat Medical Badge); and
	
	b.  amending his WD AGO Form 53-55 with the period ending 3 October 1945 to show award of the Combat Medical Badge, the Bronze Star Medal 1st Oak Leaf Cluster (based on award of the Combat Medical Badge), and the American Campaign Medal.




____ Sherri V. Ward ____
          CHAIRPERSON




INDEX

CASE ID
AR20060015403
SUFFIX

RECON

DATE BOARDED
21 JUNE 2007
TYPE OF DISCHARGE

DATE OF DISCHARGE

DISCHARGE AUTHORITY

DISCHARGE REASON

BOARD DECISION
GRANT 
REVIEW AUTHORITY
MR. SHATZER
ISSUES         1.
107.0113.0000
2.

3.

4.

5.

6.