RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        31 July 2007
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20070002502


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

      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Ms. Jeanette R. McCants           |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Thomas M. Ray                 |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Jeffrey C. Redmann            |     |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 his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and
Report of Separation) be corrected to show he was in Company C, Provisional
Training Battalion, Fort New Orleans, LA.  He also requests two or three
Purple Hearts, a “silver wreath,” “bronze stars” and “silver stars.”

2.  The applicant states he was in Company C, Provisional Training in New
Orleans, LA instead of with rear echelon troops.  He states his WD AGO Form
53-55 does not reflect all his medals.  He was also supposed to get a
rifleman’s badge as well.  His military medical records should be
researched.  He also states that he never received any medals or awards at
all.

3.  The applicant provides his WD AGO Form 53-55; his honorable discharge
certificate; and a copy of a card showing he was with Company C,
Provisional Training.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error or injustice
which occurred on 24 January 1946.  The application submitted in this case
is dated   31 January 2007.

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 the Army on 28 January 1943 and entered
active duty on 4 February 1943.

5.  The applicant provided a copy of a permanent pass issued while he was a
Private assigned to Company C, Provisional Training Battalion, Fort Army
Service Force Unit Training Center, New Orleans, LA.

6.  The applicant arrived in the European Theater of Operations on 20 May
1944. He departed the theater on 21 August 1945.  He was honorably
discharged on 24 January 1946 in the rank of Private First Class.

7.  Item 6 (Organization) of the applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 shows his
organization as the 785th Base Depot Company.  Item 31 (Military
Qualifications and Date) shows he was awarded the Sharpshooter Marksmanship
Qualification Badge with rifle bar (M1 Rifle).  Item 32 (Battles and
Campaigns) shows he participated in one campaign – Northern France.  Item
33 (Decorations and Citations) shows he was awarded the European-African-
Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the Army Good
Conduct Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal.  Item 34 (Wounds
Received in Action) contains the entry "None."

8.  The applicant’s Honorable Discharge Certificate shows his unit as the
785th Base Depot Company.  His WD AGO Form 100 (Separation Qualification
Record) shows he was a member of the 785th Base Depot Company in the
European Theater of Operations where he operated a 45-ton crane in the
movement of heavy equipment from the depot onto flat cars for shipment to
wherever the equipment was needed.

9.  The applicant’s records contained a National Archives and Records
Administration (NA) Form 13055 (Request for Information Needed to
Reconstruct Medical Data).  The form is date-stamped 13 December 1985.  On
this form he indicated he received two head injuries – one in November or
December of 1944 and one in February or March of 1945.  In the first
incident, a building fell in on him.  He did not indicate the circumstances
that caused the building to fall.  In the second incident, he stated he had
captured prisoners and was taking them in during a storm when a tree blew
down on him and hit him on the head.

10.  Technical Manual 12-235, in effect at the time, prescribed the
separation documents prepared for Soldiers upon discharge and release from
active duty.  It established standardized policy for the preparation of the
WD AGO Form 53-55 to provide a brief, clear-cut record of active Army
service at the time of discharge or release from active duty.

11.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states the Purple Heart is
awarded for a wound sustained as a result of hostile action.
Substantiating evidence must be provided to verify that the wound was the
result of hostile action, the wound must have required treatment by a
medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of
official record.

12.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 authorizes a bronze service star, based on
qualifying service, for each campaign listed in Appendix B of this
regulation or listed in item 32 of the WD AGO Form 53-55.  This regulation
states that authorized bronze service stars will be worn on the appropriate
campaign or service medal including the European-African-Middle Eastern
Campaign Medal.  One silver service star is worn in lieu of five bronze
service stars.

13.  Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-1 (Unit Citation and Campaign
Participation Credit Register) lists the unit awards and campaign credit
received by units serving during World War II.  This document shows that
the 785th Base Depot Company received credit for one campaign – Northern
France.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant provided evidence to show he was in Company C,
Provisional Training Battalion in New Orleans, LA.  However, it appears
that was his training unit when he was still in the States.  The WD AGO
Form 53-55 was only meant to be a brief record of a member’s service at the
time of discharge or release from active duty.  The available evidence of
record shows the applicant’s last unit of assignment was the 785th Base
Depot Company; therefore, item 6 of his WD AGO Form 53-55 appears to
contain the correct organization.

2.  The applicant requested two or three Purple Hearts.  His service
medical records are not available and he does not explain the circumstances
of the injuries that would have made him eligible for award of the Purple
Heart.  However, in a December 1985 NA Form 13055 he indicated he received
two head injuries.  He did not indicate the circumstances that caused the
building to fall on him in November or December of 1944; therefore, there
is insufficient information to determine if he would have met the
eligibility criteria for award of a Purple Heart for this injury.

3.  In the second incident, the applicant stated he had captured prisoners
and was taking them in during a storm when a tree blew down on him and hit
him on the head.  This second incident does not appear to have met the
eligibility criteria for award of a Purple Heart in that there is no
evidence to show the enemy caused the injury.  There is no evidence or
description of injuries that would have warranted award of a third Purple
Heart.

4.  It cannot be determined what the applicant means when he requests a
“silver wreath.”
5.  The applicant requested “bronze stars” and “silver stars.”  He
presumably meant service stars.  The available evidence of record shows he
is eligible to wear one bronze service star on the European-African-Middle
Eastern Campaign Medal.  There is no evidence of record and he provides no
evidence to show he is eligible for any additional service stars.

6.  The applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he was awarded the Sharpshooter
Marksmanship Qualification Badge with rifle bar.

7.  The applicant contended he never received any medals or awards at all.
It would be equitable at this time to provide him with the awards and
badges listed on his WD AGO Form 53-55.

8.  Records show the applicant should have discovered the alleged error or
injustice now under consideration on 24 January 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.  Although the applicant did not file within
the 3-year statute of limitations, based on the available evidence it would
be appropriate to waive failure to timely file.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

__jrm___  __tmr___  __jcr___  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 all Department of the Army
records of the individual concerned be corrected by amending his WD AGO
Form 53-55 to show he is eligible to wear one bronze service star on his
already-awarded European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal and by
issuing to him this and the other awards and badges listed on his WD AGO
Form 53-55.

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
amending his WD AGO Form 53-55 to show he was in Company C, Provisional
Training Battalion or to show he was awarded a Purple Heart, a “silver
wreath,” silver service stars, or additional bronze service stars.




                                  __Jeanette R. McCants_
                                            CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20070002502                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |20070731                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |                                        |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |GRANT                                   |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |Ms. Mitrano                             |
|ISSUES         1.       |100.00                                  |
|2.                      |107.0015                                |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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