IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  10 May 2012

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20110022534 


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 the following corrections to his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation - Honorable Discharge):

* Item 11 (Place of Birth)
* Item 21 (Civilian Occupation and No.)
* Item 33 (Decorations and Awards)

2.  The applicant states:

	a.  He was a replacement in Company C, 135th Infantry Regiment, 34th Division, as a rifleman, first scout.  He stepped on a tripped mine and while in the hospital he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge and Purple Heart.  He had his picture taken in the hospital ward.  When the 34th Division was deactivated he was assigned to 1086th Engineer as a company clerk.

	b.  He was discharged from the 1986th Engineer with a company clerk military occupational specialty (MOS).  They neglected to put his prior service in the 34th Division as a rifleman qualifying him for the Combat Infantryman Badge. This medal is more important that all the others as he earned the Combat Infantryman Badge.  The others were awards given for serving.

	c.  In effect, Item 11 of his WD AGO Form 53-55 shows the wrong birth place and it should be corrected from Goar to Zoar.  Item 21 of this form should show his civilian occupation as a machinist and not clerk and Item 13 should show award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.
	d.  He is a life member of the Veterans of Foreign War and Disabled American Veterans.  He asked them about his Combat Infantryman Badge and was told that they couldn't do anything because his discharge document showed he was classified as a clerk.  He was born in Zoar, Ohio and not Goar.  He was a machinist in his civilian occupation, not a clerk-typist.  

3.  The applicant provides:

* WD AGO Form 53-55
*  Picture alleged to be of himself

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 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, a reconstructed record contains sufficient documentation and evidence provided by the applicant for the Board to conduct a fair and impartial review of this case.  

3.  The applicant's available military records show he was inducted into the Army of the United States on 24 August 1943 and he entered on active duty on 14 September 1943.  

4.  He completed training and he was awarded military occupational specialty (MOS) 055 (Clerk General).  He served overseas in Africa from 18 March 1944 through 2 January 1946.

5.  He was honorably discharged from active duty, in the rank of technician four, on 6 January 1946.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 lists the following:

* Item 6 (Organization) - 135th Infantry Regiment, 34th Division
* Item 11 - Goar, Ohio
* Item 21 - Clerk Typist
* Item 30 (Military Occupational Specialty and Number) – Clerk General 055

6.  There are no orders in his available service personnel records that show he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge.

7.  The applicant submitted copies of pictures alleged to be of himself, in which he stated, that the pictures are of him when he was in the hospital. 

8.  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.  Soldiers had economic as well as intangible reasons to ensure that their records were correct; therefore, 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 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:

* Light machine gunner (604)
* Heavy machine gunner (605)
* Platoon sergeant (651)
* Squad leader (653)
* Rifleman (745)
* Automatic rifleman (746)
* Heavy weapons Noncommissioned Officer (812)
* Gun crewman (864)

8.  Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, states Zoar is a village in Tuscarawas County, Ohio.  This website does not list a city named Goar located in the State of Ohio.


DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant is entitled to correction to his place of birth on his separation document to show Zoar, Ohio.  The evidence of record supports the city of his place of birth was erroneously entered on his WD AGO Form 53-55 as Goar and not Zoar.

2.  There is also insufficient available evidence to verify his civilian occupation.  Therefore, he has no basis for correction to Item 21 of his WD AGO Form 53-55 to any other occupation.

3.  To be entitled to award of the Combat Infantryman Badge, the evidence must show that he held and served in an infantry MOS while assigned or attached to an infantry unit of brigade, regimental, or smaller size and must have served in active ground combat while assigned or attached to this infantry unit.

4.  The evidence of record shows he completed training and was awarded MOS 055, Clerk Typist.  There is no evidence of record and he provided none to show he was awarded and served in an infantry MOS during his period of active duty service.  The evidence of record also fails to show he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge.  The Combat Infantryman Badge is not automatically given to a Soldier for being shot at or for undergoing the hazards of day-to-day combat.  Therefore, lacking sufficient evidence as required by the governing regulation, he is not entitled to the Combat Infantryman Badge and its addition to his WG AGO Form 53-55.

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 a recommendation for partial relief.  As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by:

* deleting from Item 21 of the applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 the entry, "Goar" and replacing it with the entry, "Zoar".

2.  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 the following corrections of his WD AGO Form 53-55:

* Item 21 - to show the civilian occupation of machinist
* Item 33 - to show award of the Combat Infantryman Badge



      _______ _   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)                                         AR20110022534





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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20110022534



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