IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	    21 January 2010

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20090013041 


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 and that his records be corrected accordingly.  He also requests correction of his WD AGO Form 55 (Enlisted Record) to include "Infantry Rifleman" as an Army specialty in addition to the current listing of "Truck Driver."

2.  The applicant states that he believes he should have been awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge.  The applicant states he originally trained as a tank driver and when he arrived in Africa in January 1943, he was placed in the infantry as a rifleman.  He states that he served for 2 months as a rifleman and that he actively participated as an infantryman in the battles of Ousseltia Valley, Faid Pass, and Kasserine Pass in Africa.  He states that he engaged in active ground combat under hostile fire and that in several situations, he engaged in hand-to-hand combat.  The applicant states that when he was transferred to the "Service Company" to serve as an ammunition truck driver in March 1943, he was critically injured in an ammunition explosion.  He states that he was transported to the 77th Evacuation Hospital in Sicily and then to the 312th Hospital in England for treatment.

3.  The applicant provides a self-authored letter addressed to the Army Review Boards Agency, dated 29 June 2009; a copy of his WD AGO Form 55; copies of pay roll vouchers; a copy of his Honorable Discharge Certificate; a copy of an Air Transport Command - Passenger List - Foreign; a self-authored statement, dated 1 January 2009; a copy of his book, entitled "Boy of 'Greatest,'" and customer reviews of his book in support of his 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 applicant’s 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 applicant’s 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 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 applicant’s records were lost or destroyed in that fire.  However, there were sufficient documents remaining in a reconstructed record for the Board to conduct a fair and impartial review of this case.

3.  The applicant's WD AGO Form 55 shows that he enlisted in the Regular Army (RA) on 16 May 1942, in New York, NY, and that he held military occupational specialty (MOS) 345 (truck driver) at the time of his separation.

4.  The pay roll vouchers that the applicant submitted show he was initially assigned to Company A, 26th Infantry Regiment "the Rifle" and that he was transferred to Service Company on 4 March 1943.  The vouchers also show that he was entitled to foreign pay from 12 December 1942.

5.  On 25 July 1944, the applicant was honorably discharged.

6.  His WD AGO Form 55 shows that while he was in the Army, he was awarded the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal and he was issued a Lapel Button.  

7.  A review of the available records does not show that the applicant was awarded a rifleman MOS or that he was receiving combat infantry pay while he was in the Army.


8.  The book that the applicant submitted, Boy of "Greatest," is an autobiography of his life, in which he provides a detail of events that he contends occurred while he was in the Army.  The customer reviews of his book are self-explanatory.

9.  War Department Circular 269 - 1943 established the Combat Infantryman Badge and the Expert Infantryman Badge to recognize and provide an incentive to infantrymen.  The Expert Infantryman Badge was to be awarded for attainment of certain proficiency standards or by satisfactory performance of duty in action against the enemy.  The Combat Infantryman Badge was awarded for exemplary conduct in action against the enemy.  War Department Circular 186 - 1944, further provided that the Combat Infantryman Badge was to be awarded only to infantrymen serving with infantry units of brigade, regimental, or smaller size.  Additionally, World War II holders of the Combat Infantryman Badge received a monthly pay supplement known as combat infantry pay and holders of the Expert Infantryman Badge were entitled to expert infantry pay.  Therefore, Soldiers had economic as well as intangible reasons to ensure that their records were correct. Thus, pay records are frequently the best available source to verify entitlement to this award.  The Military Awards Branch of the U.S. Army Human Resources Command, (USAHRC) has advised in similar cases that, during World War II, the Combat Infantryman Badge was normally awarded only to enlisted individuals who served in the following positions:

    a.  Light machine gunner (604)
    b.  Heavy machine gunner (605)
    c.  Platoon sergeant (651)
    d.  Squad leader (653)
    e.  Rifleman (745)
     f.  Automatic rifleman (746)
    g.  Heavy weapons NCO (812)
    h.  Gun crewman (864)

10.  All Soldiers are provided basic combat skills training after they enter the Army. This is provided to ensure that all Soldiers have the survival skills to perform basic infantry missions when the need arises.  No other Soldier in combat is more exposed on a daily basis to the dangers and hardships of war and no other branch of the service suffers more casualties than the infantry.  To maintain the prestige, uniqueness, and traditional value of the Combat Infantryman Badge, the criteria for award has changed little over the years.  The opinion does note that the exigencies of combat may require non-infantry Soldiers to temporarily perform the basic infantry duties that all Soldiers are taught but it is not a basis for the award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.

11.  Department of the Army Technical Manual 12-235 (Discharge Procedures and Preparation of Separation Documents), in effect at the time, served as the authority for the preparation of the WD AGO Form 55.  It provided, in pertinent part, that the form will be prepared at the time of separation to reflect information that is current as of the date of separation.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant contends that he should have been awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge and that his WD AGO Form 55 should be corrected to include infantry rifleman as an Army specialty.

2.  His contentions have been noted and his supporting documents have been considered.  However, while he may have performed some combat duties there is no available evidence and the applicant has not submitted sufficient evidence to show that he was awarded a rifleman MOS.  Therefore, he is not entitled to award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.

3.  The available evidence shows that he held a truck driver MOS at the time of his separation.  As previously stated, the evidence does not support his contentions that he was awarded a rifleman MOS and in the absence of evidence to the contrary, it must be presumed that what the Army did in his case was correct.

4.  In order to justify correction of a military record the applicant must show 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.

5.  In view of the foregoing, there is no basis for granting the applicant's request.

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)                                         AR20090013041



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20090013041



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