IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 3 March 2009
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20080018013
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 that he be awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB).
2. The applicant states that he has been denied the CIB on the premise that he was not a rifleman with an infantry company. He believes that the documentation he has submitted verifies that he was, in fact, a rifleman assigned to an infantry company.
3. The applicant provides his WD AGO Form 53-55, Enlisted Record and Report of Separation Honorable Discharge and his WD AGO Form 100, Separation Qualification Record.
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 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. The information contained herein was derived from alternate documentation.
3. The applicant's military records show that he was inducted and entered active duty on 7 April 1941. He was awarded the military occupational specialty (MOS) of instrument repairman and served in the European Theater of Operations from 10 December 1944 to on or about 11 May 1945.
4. A Form 52C shows the applicant was diagnosed with malnutrition caused by his being a prisoner of war for 82 days, and blistered feet caused by a road march as a prisoner of war. This form shows the applicant's unit as the 317th Infantry Regiment.
5. The applicant was honorably discharged on 30 September 1945. His WD AGO Form 53-55 lists his MOS as instrument repairman and instrument chief of section.
6. The applicant was also issued a WD AGO Form 100 which shows that he served as an instrument repairman for 30 months and then as a rifleman for 7 months. This form also shows that the applicant was a POW.
7. War Department Circular 269-1943 established the CIB and the Expert Infantryman Badge (EIB) to recognize and provide an incentive to infantrymen. The EIB was to be awarded for attainment of certain proficiency standards or by satisfactory performance of duty in action against the enemy. The CIB was awarded for exemplary conduct in action against the enemy. War Department Circular 186-1944 further provided that the CIB was to be awarded only to infantrymen serving with infantry units of brigade, regimental or smaller size.
8. Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides the guidance for Army awards and decorations. In this regulation several awards and decorations are provided specifically for service during WWII which were enacted subsequent to the demobilization of WWII. These WWII specific provisions include award of the
Bronze Star Medal for each individual who was cited in orders or awarded a certificate for exemplary conduct in ground combat between 7 December 1941 and 2 September 1945 or where such achievement or service, during the period, was confirmed by documents executed prior to 1 July 1947. An award of the Combat Infantryman Badge is considered to be a citation in orders. This means, in effect, that the Bronze Star Medals were awarded to individuals who were authorized the CIB for service during WWII.
9. Another WWII specific award is the WWII Victory Medal which is awarded for service between 7 December 1941 and 31 December 1946, both dates inclusive, and the Honorable Service Lapel Button.
10. Another retroactive provision of law, although not specific to WWII, is the award of the Prisoner of War (POW) Medal. The governing regulation states that while the POW Medal was authorized by law on 8 November 1985, its provisions are retroactive and applies to individuals who in past armed conflicts were taken prisoner or held captive.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant was serving as an infantryman assigned to an infantry unit and was obviously engaged in combat since he was taken prisoner by enemy forces. As such, the applicant is entitled to the CIB.
2. Based on this correction, the applicant is also entitled to the Bronze Star Medal, based on his CIB.
3. The applicant is also entitled to the WWII Victory Medal and the Honorable Service Lapel Button based on his honorable service during WWII, and the POW Medal based on his capture and confinement by enemy forces.
BOARD VOTE:
___X ___ ___X___ ____X___ 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:
a. awarding him the CIB, the Bronze Star Medal, and the POW Medal.
b. adding these awards, along with the WWII Victory Medal and the Honorable Service Lapel Button, to his WD AGO Form 53-55.
_______ _ 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) AR20080018013
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