IN THE CASE OF:	  

	BOARD DATE:	  3 JUNE 2008

	DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20080007975 


THE BOARD CONSIDERED THE FOLLOWING EVIDENCE:

1.  Application for correction of military records (with supporting documents provided, if any).

2.  Military Personnel Records and advisory opinions (if any).


THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant requests reconsideration of the Board's denial of his request to have his records corrected to show his military occupational specialty (MOS) as combat medic.  He also requests that his WD AGO Form 53-55, Enlisted Record and Report of Separation Honorable Discharge, be further corrected to show his date of birth (DOB) as 8 December 1921, to change his most significant unit to Medical Detachment, 9th Infantry Division, and to add the Combat Medical Badge (CMB) and Bronze Star Medal (BSM) along with all additional medals previously awarded by this Board.  

2.  The applicant states that since this Board awarded him the CMB, it follows that his significant contributions in the Infantry during World War II (WWII) should be appropriately memorialized on his separation document.

3.  The applicant provides his WD AGO Form 53-55, a summary clinical record dated 31 January 1945, a copy of a Medical Department Red Cross Identification Card which shows his DOB as 8 December 1921, a Medical Department Form 52b dated 13 December 1944, documents from the Second Indianhead Division Association, and a statement from a former member of the Medical Detachment, 2nd Division, 9th Infantry who certifies that the applicant served with him as a company aide man.

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 AR20070009225 on 30 October 2007.

2.  The applicant’s records could not be located and are presumed to have been destroyed during the fire at the records repository at St. Louis, Missouri, in 1973.  The following information was derived from documents provided by the applicant, himself.

3.  The applicant was inducted on 17 September 1942 and entered active duty on 1 October 1942.  The applicant arrived in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) on 19 October 1943.  He served in the ETO from 19 October 1943 to 11 June 1945, and then served in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO) until 7 September 1945.

4.  The Medical Department Form 52b, dated 13 December 1944, that the applicant provides 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 that the applicant provides 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 MTO on 7 September 1945.  He was honorably discharged on 3 October 1945.  The WD AGO Form 53-55 he was issued shows his DOB as 12 August 1921, his Organization as the 1417th AAF Base Unit, and his MOS as Automotive Equipment Operator.

7.  On 25 July 2006, this Board requested that the Army Review Boards Agency, St. Louis, Missouri, administratively correct the applicant’s records to show his entitlement to the WWII Victory Medal and 1 silver service star to be worn on his European-African-Middle Eastern (EAME) Campaign Medal.

8.  On 21 June 2007, this Board directed that the applicant be awarded the CMB, the 1st Oak Leaf Cluster (second award) to his BSM, and the American Campaign Medal.

9.  On 30 October 2007, this Board denied the applicant’s request to change his MOS to medic.

10.  On 19 February 2008, the Army Review Boards Agency, St. Louis, Missouri, corrected the applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 by the publication of a DD Form 215.  That DD Form 215 added the CMB, a silver service star and bronze arrowhead (to denote assault landing) to be worn on his EAME Campaign Medal, the WWII Victory Medal, the American Campaign Medal, an oak leaf cluster to his BSM, a Presidential Unit Citation, and a Belgian Fouragere.

11.  Technical Manual 12-235, Discharge Procedures and Preparation of Separation Forms, in effect at the time, provides in paragraph 24, that item 6 of the WD AGO Form 53-55, Organization, be completed as follows:  “Enter the last unit, or similar element to which he was assigned, rather than the element of which he was a part while moving to a separation activity.   Assignments to units for purpose of transfer from a theater to the United States are considered part of the movement to a separation activity.”

12.  Technical Manual 12-235 does not contain any guidance for entries in Item 30, Military Occupational Specialty and No.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant provided a Medical Department Red Cross Identification Card which verifies that his DOB is incorrectly entered on his WD AGO Form 53-55.  As such, his WD AGO Form 53-55, Item 10, should be corrected to show his DOB as 8 December 1921.  

2.  It is reasonable to conclude that the applicant was assigned to the Medical Detachment, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division while in the ETO during WWII, and was only assigned to the 1417th AAF Base Unit for the purpose of demobilization.  As such, the Medical Detachment, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division should be listed in item 6, Organization, of the WD AGO Form 53-55 in accordance with regulations in effect at the time.

3.  It is apparent from the documents submitted by the applicant that he served as a First Aid Man, MOS Number 666, while in combat.  There was no MOS for medic except for a medic NCO (noncommissioned officer) during WWII.  However, it would appear that the applicant’s MOS was changed when he was being processed for discharge.  While his new MOS, Automotive Equipment Operator, is properly entered on his WD AGO Form 53-55 (as the MOS he held at the time of separation), it would be equitable to change his MOS to that which he held during combat during WWII.  This would be in keeping with the logic and rationale used in entering WWII Soldiers’ most significant unit on their WD AGO Forms 53-55.  As for the applicant’s request to show he was a combat medic, there is no such designation.  The CMB indicates whether a medic was in combat or not.

4.  That portion of the applicant’s request to add the CMB and BSM along with all additional medals previously awarded by this Board to his WD AGO Form 53-55 has already been accomplished, and need not be considered by the Board.

BOARD VOTE:

__X____  ___X____  __X_____  GRANT FULL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

1.  The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to warrant amendment of the ABCMR’s decision in Docket Number AR20070009225 on 30 October 2007.  As a result, the Board recommends that the WD AGO Form 53-55 of the individual concerned be further corrected by showing his MOS as First Aid Man, MOS Number 666 in Item 30 of his WD AGO Form 53-55.

2.  The Board also recommends that his WD AGO Form 53-55, Item 6, Organization, be corrected to show his organization as the Medical Detachment, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division; and Item 10, Date of Birth, be corrected to show his DOB as 8 December 1921.



      __________X_____________
      	CHAIRPERSON
      
I certify that herein is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in this case.
ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20080007975



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20080007975


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