BOARD DATE:	  24 June 2010

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20100013756 


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 reconsideration of the Board's denial of his previous request for correction of his WD AGO 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation Honorable Discharge) to show the Arrowhead device.  As a new issue, he requests that his WD AGO Form 53-55 be corrected to show he was assigned to the 203d Engineer Combat Battalion.

2.  The applicant states he hopes the material he sent with a recent letter will lead to a near term confirmation of his right to the Bronze Arrowhead for participating in the assault landing on Omaha Beach as a member of the 203rd Engineer Combat Battalion, 6th Engineer Special Brigade.

3.  The applicant provides a copy of a V-Mail and detailed information with dates, places, and units, including a sequence of events listing related to his service.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  Incorporated herein by reference are military records which were summarized in the previous consideration of the applicant's case by the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) in Docket Number AR20090010965 on 11 March 2010.

2.  The additional statements and the V-Mail provided by the applicant are new evidence which were not previously reviewed by this Board and warrants consideration.


3.  The applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 shows the following:

	a.  He was inducted into the Army of the United States on 18 September 1943.

	b.  In March 1944, he departed the continental United States (CONUS) for service in the European Theater of Operations (ETO).  He served in the ETO from 21 March 1944 to 10 December 1945.

	c.  Item 6 (Organization) lists his last unit as the 1128th Engineer Combat Group.

	d.  Item 33 (Decorations and Citations), as corrected on 27 April 2010, lists his awards as the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with one silver service star, Army Good Conduct Medal, World War II Victory Medal, Army of Occupation Medal with Germany Clasp, and the Croix de Guerre with Palm.

	e.  He was discharged in the rank of technician fifth grade on 27 December 1945.  He completed 2 years, 3 months, and 10 days of creditable active service.

4.  The applicant provided a photocopied V-Mail addressed to his home, dated 30 March 1944, which (though faint) appears to show the 203d Engineer Combat Battalion on the sender's address line.  Photocopies of envelopes showing units in the return address area and postal date stamps indicate he was likely reassigned from the 203d Engineer Combat Battalion to the 1128th Engineer Combat Group in the April 1945 time frame.

5.  The applicant provided excerpts from a book which he states he put together for his children.  These pages detail his journey from England by boat to include exiting the watercraft and going onto Omaha Beach at Normandy.  The information indicates he landed during the time for which his unit was recognized with the Croix de Guerre with Palm.

6.  A search of the U.S. Army Center of Military History web site revealed the 203d Engineer Combat Battalion was awarded the French Croix de Guerre with Palm for Normandy during World War II.  There is no evidence the 1128th Engineer Combat Group was cited for this award.

7.  Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-1 (Unit Citation and Campaign Participation Credit Register) shows the 203d Engineer Combat Battalion was:

	a.  given assault landing credit for actions on Normandy on 6-7 June 1944 based on Department of the Army General Orders (DAGO) 40, dated 1957; and
	b.  bestowed the French Croix de Guerre for actions on 6 June 1944 based on DAGO 43, dated 1950.

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides for wear of the "arrowhead" on the appropriate service medal to denote participation in a combat parachute jump, helicopter assault landing, combat glider landing, or amphibious assault landing while assigned or attached as a member of an organized force carrying out an assigned tactical mission.  Individual assault credit is tied directly to the combat assault credit decision for the unit to which the Soldier is assigned.  The unit must be credited with a combat assault in order for the Soldier to receive credit for a combat assault and the Soldier must physically exit the aircraft or the watercraft as appropriate.  The arrowhead is authorized for wear on the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal.

9.  Technical Manual 12-235 (Discharge Procedures and Preparation of Separation Forms), in effect at the time, provides in paragraph 24, that for item 6 (Organization) of the WD AGO Form 53-55, "Enter the last unit, or similar element to which he was assigned."

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Based on the photocopied V-Mail with the 203d Engineer Combat Battalion on the sender's address line, photocopies of other envelopes, and the Croix de Guerre with Palm entry on the applicant's WD AGO 53-55, the preponderance of evidence indicates the applicant was assigned to the 203d Engineer Combat Battalion during the approximate period of March 1944 to April 1945.

2.  General orders awarded the 203d Engineer Combat Battalion assault landing credit for the dates which corroborating evidence indicates the applicant served in the unit.  Based on the applicant's detailed memoirs of D-Day, it is accepted that he physically exited the watercraft during the assault.  As such, it would be appropriate for the Arrowhead device to be affixed to his already-awarded European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with silver service star.  Therefore, it would be appropriate to correct his WD AGO 53-55 to show this appurtenance.

3.  While it is evident the applicant served in the 203d Engineer Combat Battalion, regulatory policy prescribes the entry of the last unit of assignment in item 6 of the WD AGO Form 53-55.  Evidence indicates the applicant was last assigned to the 1128th Engineer Combat Group.  As such, the organization entered on the applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 is correct as constituted.

4.  In view of the foregoing, the applicant is entitled to have his records corrected as shown below.
 
BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

____x____  ___x_____  ____x_  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

1.  The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to warrant amendment of the ABCMR’s decision in Docket Number AR20090010965, dated on 11 March 2010.  As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by:

   a.  deleting from item 33 of his WD AGO Form 53-55 the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with one silver service star and

   b.  adding to item 33 of his WD AGO Form 53-55 the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with one silver service star and Arrowhead device.

2.  In regard to the new issue, the Board further determined that the evidence presented is insufficient to warrant a portion of the requested relief.  As a result, the Board recommends denial of so much of the application that pertains to correcting the entry in item 6 of his WD AGO 53-55 to show his last unit of assignment was the 203d Engineer Combat Battalion.



      __________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)                                         AR20100013756



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20100013756



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