IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 5 May 2009
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20090002400
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 the records of her husband, a deceased former service member (FSM), be corrected to show that he was awarded the Combat Medical Badge (CMB). She also requests that the FSM be awarded the Bronze Star Medal (BSM) based on award of the CMB.
2. The applicant states that the FSM was a medical aidman who served in
25 battles and campaigns in France and 46 battles and campaigns in Germany during World War II (WWII).
3. The applicant provides the FSMs WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation Honorable Discharge), a list of battles fought by the 121st Infantry Regiment in WWII, and internet printouts of the requirements for the CMB and the BSM.
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. The FSMs 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 FSMs records were lost or destroyed in that fire. The information contained herein was derived from documents submitted by the applicant.
2. The available evidence show the FSM was inducted into the Army of the United States on 11 September 1942 and he entered on active duty on
25 September 1942. He was awarded the military occupational specialty of medical aidman.
3. The FSM arrived in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) on
15 December 1943 and served in the Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, and Central Europe campaigns. He was promoted to the rank of private first class and was honorably discharged on 25 November 1945 due to demobilization. His unit was listed as the 14th Hospital Train on his WD AGO Form 53-55.
4. Item 31 (Military Qualifications and Date) of the FSMs WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he was awarded the Medical Badge. The Medical Badge was awarded during WWII and it was renamed the CMB in 1966. Since the Medical Badge is currently known as the CMB, the applicant's request for award of the CMB will not be further discussed in these proceedings.
5. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides, in pertinent part, that the CMB is awarded to a member of the Army Medical Service (colonels and below) who had satisfactorily performed medical duties subsequent to 6 December 1941 while assigned or attached to a medical unit of an infantry unit of brigade, regimental or smaller size, or as a member of the medical platoon of an infantry or airborne brigade headquarters company, during any period the infantry unit was engaged in active ground combat.
6. Army Regulation 600-8-22 also provides, in pertinent part, that the BSM is awarded for heroism and for meritorious achievement or service in military operations against an armed enemy. The BSM is authorized 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 whose achievement or service, during that period, was confirmed by documents executed prior to 1 July 1947. An award of the Combat Infantryman Badge or the CMB is considered to be a citation in orders. This means, in effect, that the BSM is to be awarded to individuals who were authorized either badge for service during World War II.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
The FSM is entitled to the BSM based on award of the Medical Badge. It would be appropriate to award the BSM and to add this decoration to his WD AGO Form 53-55.
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 awarding him the BSM and adding the decoration 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) AR20090002400
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