IN THE CASE OF:	

		BOARD DATE:	  10 March 2009

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20080017014 


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 he be awarded the Prisoner of War (POW) Medal.

2.  The applicant states that he was not aware of the POW Medal until a friend told him about it.

3.  The applicant provides his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation Honorable Discharge), his honorable discharge certificate, and two witness statements.

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 could not be located, and are presumed to have been destroyed at the fire at the records repository at St. Louis, Missouri, in 1973.

3.  The applicant was inducted on 13 October 1942, and entered active duty on 27 October 1942.  He was given the military occupational specialty of surgical technician, served in the European-African-Middle Eastern theater from 2 March 
1945 to 7 June 1945, and in the Asiatic-Pacific theater from 12 September to 22 December 1945.

4.  The applicant was honorably discharged on 19 January 1946.

5.  In the two statements provided by the applicant it was stated that while the applicant was serving as an aid man with the Medical Detachment of the 341st Regiment of the 86th Division, on 25 April 1945 he was treating a wounded Soldier when the company was pushed back and he was taken prisoner.  The applicant was put in a small POW camp with 28 French prisoners, a British major, and two American pilots.  On 30 April 1945, the 86th Division took the city in which he was held prisoner and he was liberated.

6.  In a letter dated 14 February 2007, the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) informed the applicant that a search of unit records for the Medical Detachment of the 341st Regiment, 86th Division, failed to locate any mention of him during the time the applicant stated that he was taken prisoner.

7.  On 30 April 2008, the U.S. Army Human Resources Command, St. Louis (HRC-STL), responded to the applicant informing him that without military documentation showing that he was held captive during World War II, the POW Medal could not be authorized.  The HRC-STL gave the applicant an address to which he could write which has information concerning military units and their history, and would have affidavits from most prisoners of war, including any sworn statement that was made after liberation.

8. The POW Medal was authorized on 8 November 1985 and is awarded to individuals who in past armed conflicts were taken prisoner or held captive.  Past conflict in this instance means only World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.  

9.  In an undated and unsigned administrative decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), it was stated that reasonable doubt must, by law, be resolved in favor of the claimant.  While the VA stated that there are no records of the applicant being a POW, reasonable doubt had to be resolved in the applicant's favor based on the two statements he provided.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant's records are presumed to be destroyed in the fire at the records repository in 1973.  There is no mention of him being a POW in his remaining records.

2.  A search of the applicant's unit's records for the time he was taken prisoner do not contain his name or any indication that he was taken prisoner.

3.  Therefore, the only evidence which shows that the applicant was a POW is the two statements provided by the applicant.

4.  As a general rule, the Board requires some form of official corroboration of statements made in an applicant's behalf such as individual and unit records.

5.  The applicant was provided the address of an agency which could assist him in obtaining official documentation to support his request.  There is no evidence that he pursued that course of action.

6.  While the VA granted the applicant POW status for its purposes, the VA made its decision based on its own laws and regulations.  Therefore, an administrative decision made by the VA does not establish an error or omission by the Army.

7.  Unfortunately, without official corroboration, there is insufficient evidence in which to grant 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 our Nation.  The applicant and all Americans should be justifiably proud of his service in arms.



      ___________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)                                         AR20080017014



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20080017014



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