IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 10 November 2010
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20100013401
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 her father's status as a Prisoner of War (POW) be added to his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation - Honorable Discharge).
2. The applicant states that being a POW was a significant part of her father's military service and should be recorded on his WD AGO Form 53-55.
3. The applicant provides her father's WD AGO Form 53-55, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) World War II POW Data File, her father's medical certificate of death, her father's social security card, a returned letter envelope, and a form letter from the War Claims Commission.
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 Board requested the former service member's (FSM's) military records from the repository in St. Louis, MO, but without success. A fire destroyed approximately 18 million service members' records at the National Personnel Records Center in 1973. It is believed that the military records pertaining to the FSM were lost in that fire. However, there are sufficient records to make a fair, impartial, and equitable determination in this case.
3. The FSM was inducted into the Army of the United States on 19 January 1943 and served as a rifleman. NARA confirmed on a Department of Veterans Affairs Form 3101 (Request for Information) that the FSM was listed as missing in action on 17 September 1944 and was subsequently reported as a POW of the German Government. He was returned to military control on 3 May 1945.
4. He was then awarded the military occupational specialty of military policeman and performed duties in a disciplinary barracks.
5. The FSM was honorably discharged on 25 November 1945. The WD AGO Form 53-55 he was issued shows he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB). The WD AGO Form 100 (Separation Qualification Record) shows the FSM was a POW for 8 months in Germany.
6. The POW Medal was authorized on 8 November 1985 and is awarded to individuals who in past armed conflicts were taken prisoner or held captive. Past conflict in this instance means only World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Hostages of terrorists and persons held by governments with which the United States is not engaged in armed conflict are not eligible.
7. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides 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 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 for the Bronze Star Medal. This means, in effect, that the Bronze Star Medal is to be awarded to individuals who were authorized either badge for service during World War II.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The FSM's status as a POW was recorded on his WD AGO Form 100 at the time of his discharge.
2. While there were no awards to honor POW's when the FSM was discharged, subsequent legislation provided for the POW Medal.
3. The records provided to the Board clearly show the FSM was a POW for approximately 8 months. As such, it would be appropriate to award him the POW Medal.
4. In addition, since the FSM had been awarded the CIB, he is also entitled to the Bronze Star Medal and to have that award 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 the evidence presented is 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 him the POW Medal and the Bronze Star Medal (based upon award of the Combat Infantryman Badge) and
b. adding these awards 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) AR20100013401
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20100013401
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