RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        16 August 2007
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20070002383


      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. Joseph A. Adriance            |     |Analyst              |

      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. William D. Powers             |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. William Blakely               |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Donald L. Lewy                |     |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 the Military History portion of
his separation document (WD AGO Form 53-55) be corrected.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that he enlisted and was not inducted
into the Army and as a result, the entry in Item 22 (Date of Induction) is
incorrect and should have been entered in Item 23 (Date of Enlistment) of
his WD AGO Form 53-55.  He states that when he was being processed for
separation, the only thought on his mind was meeting his son, who had been
born three days after his departure for overseas.  He claims that it was
only recently when one of his sons discovered that his separation document
indicated he had been inducted rather than enlisting that he discovered the
error in his separation document.  He also indicates that it can be
determined that he was an enlistee and not an inductee by his service
number.

3.  The applicant provides his WD AGO Form 53-55 and a self-authored
statement in support of his application.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  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 also allows the
Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) to excuse an
applicant’s failure to timely file within the 3-year statute of limitations
if the ABCMR determines it would be in the interest of justice to do so.
While it appears the applicant did not file within the time frame provided
in the statute of limitations, the ABCMR has elected to conduct a
substantive review of this case and, only to the extent relief, if any, is
granted, has determined it is in the interest of justice to excuse the
applicant’s failure to timely file.  In all other respects, there are
insufficient bases to waive the statute of limitations for timely filing.

2.  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 separation document.


3.  The applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 shows, in Item 2 (Army Serial Number)
that his service number stars with the numeral 1 and that the second digit
is 2.  Item 5 (Component) shows his component as AUS (Army of the United
States).  Item 22 contains an entry that indicates he was inducted on 12
March 1942 and Item 23 (Date of Enlistment) is blank.  Item 24 (Date of
Entry Into Active Service) contains an entry showing he also entered active
duty on 12 March 1942.

4.  The applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 also shows he served in the European
Theater of Operations (ETO) from 14 June 1944 through 7 September 1945, and
that he participated in the Ardennes, Central Europe, Northern France and
Rhineland campaigns of World War II.  It further shows that during his
active duty tenure, he earned the Bronze Star Medal, European-African-
Middle Eastern Campaign Medal and Army Good Conduct Medal.

5.  The WD AGO Form 53-55 confirms the applicant was honorably separated on
23 September 1945, after completing 3 years, 6 months and 12 days of active
military service.

6.  Army Regulation 615-30 (Army Serial Numbers-Enlisted Men), in effect at
the time, contained the policies and procedures for assignment of Army
Serial Numbers.  It stated, in effect, that Army Serial Numbers would be
assigned based on the various components and would allow one to tell from a
serial number the component and corps area (later Service command and Army
area) from which a man had entered the Federal service, whether he had
enlisted, or had been drafted through the Selective Service, and whether he
had been a National Guardsman in his home state.

7.  Paragraph 4a of the Army Serial Number regulation stated, in pertinent
part, that for Regular Army enlisted men to whom an Army Serial Number had
never been assigned, an Army Serial Number would be assigned from blocks of
numbers assigned to Corps Areas.  Members enlisting in the 2nd Corps Area,
which included New York, New Jersey and Delaware, were assigned a number
from the block of numbers from 12,000,000 to 12,999,999.  The first digit 1
applied to men enlisted in the Regular Army on or after July 1, 1940, and
the second digit 2 identified the 2nd Corps area of enlistment.  For men
inducted into the Army under the Selective Training and Service Act of
1940, from the 2nd Corps Area, the block of numbers from which a serial
number would be assigned was 32,000,000 to 32,999, 999.  The first digit 3
referred to Inductees and the second digit 2 indicated the 2nd Corps area
of induction.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant's contention that he enlisted in the Regular Army and was
not inducted into the Army was carefully considered and found to have
merit.  The regulation in effect at the time specified that members
enlisting in the Regular Army from New Jersey would be assigned an Army
Serial Number that started with the first two digits 12.  The first digit 1
identified Regular Army enlisted men and the second digit identified the
corps area from which the member entered service.

2.  The applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 shows his Army Serial Number began
with the first two digits of 12, which indicates he enlisted in the Regular
Army from the 2nd Corps Area (New York, New Jersey, Delaware).  Therefore,
Item 5 (Component) should contain the entry Regular Army.  The entry in
Item 22 should be deleted and the entry 12 March 1942 should be added to
Item 23.

BOARD VOTE:

___WDP   __WB  __  __DLL___  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.  As a result, the Board recommends that all
Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by
amending his 23 September 1945 WD AGO Form 53-55 by deleting the current
entry in Item 5 and replacing it with the entry "Regular Army"; by deleting
the current entry in Item 22; by adding the entry "12 March 1942 to Item
23; and by providing him a correction to his separation document that
includes these changes.




                            _____William D. Powers___
                                      CHAIRPERSON

                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20070002383                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |2007/08/16                              |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |HD                                      |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |1945/09/23                              |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |AR 615-365                              |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |Demobilization                          |
|BOARD DECISION          |GRANT                                   |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |Ms. Mitrano                             |
|ISSUES         1.  1021 |100.0000                                |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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