BOARD DATE: 20 August 2009
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20090005244
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 all medals to which he is entitled for his World War II service.
2. The applicant states, in effect, that he received only the Army Good Conduct Medal even though other awards and decorations are shown on his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation - Honorable Discharge). He would like to have all his medals made available to him, to include others to which he may be entitled.
3. In support of his application, the applicant submitted a copy of his WD AGO
Form 53-55.
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 were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973. Information herein was obtained from the applicant's reconstructed record, his WD AGO Form 53-55, and from other official Army sources.
3. The evidence shows that the applicant was inducted into the Army of the United States on 28 December 1943. He entered active service at Fort Meade, Maryland, on 18 January 1944. The applicant was honorably discharged in the grade of private first class on 10 November 1945 as an automatic rifleman in military occupational specialty (MOS) 746.
4. Item 6 (Organization) of the applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he was assigned to Company E, 362nd Infantry Regiment.
5. Item 31 (Military Qualification and Date) of the applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge and the Marksman Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar.
6. Item 33 (Decorations and Citations) shows the applicant was awarded the American Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with three bronze service stars, Good Conduct Medal, and Purple Heart.
7. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides, in pertinent part, that the Bronze Star Medal is awarded for heroism and for meritorious achievement or service in military operations against an armed enemy. The Bronze Star Medal 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 Combat Medical Badge is considered to be a citation in orders; therefore, the Bronze Star Medal is to be awarded to individuals who were authorized either badge for service during World War II.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
The Army awards regulation provides that the Bronze Star Medal is awarded for heroism, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service, in military operations against an armed enemy. The Bronze Star Medal 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 is considered to be a citation in
orders. The evidence shows the applicant was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge during World War II. Therefore, based on this evidence and the special provisions of the Army's awards regulation, the applicant is entitled to award of the Bronze Star Medal and to have it added 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:
a. awarding the applicant the Bronze Star Medal based on his having been awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge during World War II;
b. adding to item 33 of the applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 the Bronze Star Medal; and
c. issuing the applicant a replacement set or initial issue of all awards and decorations to which he is entitled.
__________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) AR20090005244
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