IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 26 FEBRUARY 2009
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20080016502
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, in effect, that her WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation - Honorable Discharge) be corrected to reflect her date of birth (DOB) as 25 September 1923.
2. The applicant states, in effect, that her DOB is actually 25 September 1923 and that her WD AGO Form 53-55 reflects it as 25 October 1923. She goes on to state that at the time she served her birth certificate reflected her DOB as 25 October 1923; however, she has subsequently had her birth certificate corrected to reflect the correct DOB of 25 September 1923.
3. The applicant provides a copy of her corrected birth certificate.
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 applicants 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 applicants failure to timely file. In all other respects, there are insufficient bases to waive the statute of limitations for timely filing.
2. The applicants 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 applicants 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.
3. The applicant enlisted in the Women's Army Corps (WAC) of the Army of the United States (AUS) in Montgomery, Alabama on 17 November 1944 and entered active duty on 29 November 1944. She completed her training as a medical technician and was transferred to the 62nd WAC Hospital Company at O'Reilly General Hospital in Springfield, Missouri. She attained the rank of Technician Fifth Grade (T/5).
4. On 4 June 1946, the applicant was honorably discharged at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. She had served 1 year, 6 months and 6 days of total active service. Her WD AGO Form 53-55 issued at the time of her discharge indicates that her DOB was 25 October 1923.
5. The corrected birth certificate provided by the applicant with her application shows that on 9 October 2008, the Arkansas Department of Health, Division of Vital Records, issued an Affidavit for Correction of a Record in which it changed the applicant's month of birth from October to September. The documents used to support the change were an insurance policy and a burial policy indicating that her DOB is 25 September 1923.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. At the time of the applicant's service, her DOB was listed as 25 October 1923 and that is the date that was entered on her WD AGO Form 53-55.
2. While the applicant has obtained a corrected birth certificate, she did so using an insurance policy and a burial policy. While the policies may be sufficient proof for a State to change a DOB on a birth certificate, more definitive proof is required to change an Army record.
3. There is no evidence that suggests the applicant has or would suffer any injury or injustice as a result of the Army maintaining its records with the DOB under which she served. The Army has an interest in maintaining the accuracy of its records. The data and information contained in those records should reflect the conditions and circumstances that existed at the time the records were created.
4. While it is clear that the applicant now wishes to record what she claims is her correct DOB in her military records, this is not a sufficiently compelling reason for compromising the integrity of the Army's records at this late date.
5. The applicant is advised that a copy of this decisional document along with her application and the supporting evidence she provided, which confirms that her current DOB is 25 September 1923, will be filed in her Official Military Personnel File (OMPF). This should serve to clarify any questions or confusion in regard to the difference in the DOB recorded in her military records and to satisfy her desire to have what she claims is her correct DOB documented in her OMPF.
6. In view of the foregoing, there is no basis for granting the applicant's request.
BOARD VOTE:
________ ________ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
___X_____ __X______ ___X_____ DENY APPLICATION
BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:
1. The evidence presented does not demonstrate the existence of a probable error or injustice. Therefore, the Board determined that the overall merits of this case are insufficient as a basis for correction of the records of the individual concerned.
2. The Board wants the applicant and all others concerned to know that this action in no way diminishes the sacrifices made by the applicant in service to the United States during World War II. The applicant and all Americans should be justifiably proud of her service in arms.
_______ _ XXX _______ ___
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) AR20080016502
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