IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 25 August 2009
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20090005849
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 the WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation Honorable Discharge) of his deceased grandfather, a former service member (FSM), be corrected to show his first unit.
2. The applicant states, in effect, that the FSM's dying wish was to have his first unit listed on WD AGO Form 53-55. He claims the FSM was reassigned to the unit listed after he was wounded in 1943.
3. The applicant provides a self-authored statement, FSM's death certificate, and 813th Tank Destroyers Personnel Directory extract in support of the application.
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 FSM's military records were not available to the Board for review. A fire destroyed approximately 18 million service members records at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in 1973. It is believed his records were lost in that fire. However, the applicant submitted sufficient evidence, primarily the FSM's WD AGO Form 53-55, to allow the Board to conduct a fair and impartial review of the case.
3. The FSM was inducted into the Army of the United States and entered active duty on 1 March 1943. He was trained in, awarded, and served in military occupational specialty (MOS) 745 (Rifleman). His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows the highest rank he held while serving on active duty was private first class (PFC). It also shows he served in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) from 8 September 1943 to 1 October 1945, and that he participated in the Central Europe, Naples, Foggia, Rhineland, Rome Arno, and Normandy campaigns of World War II. It also shows that during his active duty tenure, he earned the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, Purple Heart, and Expert Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Carbine and Rifle Bars.
4. Item 6 (Organization) of the FSM's WD AGO Form 53-55 lists his unit as the 979th Signal Motor Messenger Company. Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) shows he was wounded in the ETO on 1 July 1944.
5. The applicant provides the coversheet and pages 32 and 33 of the
813th Tank Destroyer Battalion's Personnel Directory. Page 32 lists the FSM's name and home address.
6. Technical Manual 12-235, which prescribed the policy and procedure for the preparation and distribution of separation documents during the period in question, contained item by item entry instructions. These instructions indicated, in pertinent part, that the last unit or similar element to which a member was assigned would be entered in Item 6.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicants contention that item 6 of the FSM's WD AGO Form 53-55 should be corrected to show Company A, 813th Tank Destroyer Battalion, was carefully considered. However, there is insufficient evidence to support this claim.
2. The applicant provides an 813th Tank Destroyer Battalion Personnel Directory extract that contains the FSM's name and address on page 32. However, by his own admission, the FSM last served in the ETO with the last unit listed on his WD AGO Form 53-55, and the unit directory provided lists no specific dates. By regulation, the last unit or similar element to which a member was assigned will be entered in item 6 of the WD AGO Form 53-55. The applicant admits the FSM was reassigned from Company A, 813th Tank Destroyers to the 979th Signal Motor Messenger Company after he was wounded, which means he served with that unit for the more than 15 months he remained on active duty prior to his discharge. As a result, there appears to be no error in the unit entry in item 6 of the WD AGO Form 53-55.
3. Further, it does not appear the current unit entry resulted in any significant injustice to the FSM while he lived, or will result in any injustice being served upon his family in the future. As a result, absent any evidence of error or injustice related to the current unit entry on the FSM's WD AGO Form 53-55, there is an insufficient evidentiary basis to support granting the requested relief.
4. In order to justify correction of a military record the applicant must show to the satisfaction of the Board, or it must otherwise satisfactorily appear, that the record is in error or unjust. The applicant has failed to submit evidence that would satisfy this requirement.
BOARD VOTE:
________ ________ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
__X____ ____X___ ____X___ DENY APPLICATION
BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:
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.
_______ _ _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) AR20090005849
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