IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 12 January 2010
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20090009904
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 WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation Honorable Discharge) of his father, the former service member (FSM), be corrected to add the Bronze Star Medal (BSM).
2. The applicant states that he believes the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) was changed to the BSM in 1947.
3. The applicant provides in support of his request documents showing he is his father's next of kin, his father's WD AGO Form 53-55, and his father's WD AGO Form 100 (Separation Qualification Record).
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. The FSM's military records could not be located and are presumed to have been destroyed in the fire at the records repository at St. Louis, MO in 1973. However, the documents provided by the applicant are sufficient to make a fair and impartial decision in this case.
2. The FSM was inducted into the Army on 27 July 1944 and he entered active duty the same day.
3. The FSM was awarded military occupational specialty 610, mortar gunner. He served in the European Theater of Operations from 28 January 1945 to 18 January 1946. He was promoted to the rank of corporal and was honorably discharged on 2 February 1946.
4. The WD AGO Form 53-55 he was issued shows in Item 31, Military Qualification and Date, the Combat Infantryman Badge.
5. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides 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 such achievement or service, during that period, was confirmed by documents executed prior to 1 July 1947. An award of the CIB or the Combat Medical Badge 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 was awarded the CIB during World War II. As such, he is entitled to the BSM.
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 based upon award of the Combat Infantryman Badge and adding that 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.
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20090009904
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