IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 28 June 2012
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20120000849
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, the son of a deceased former service member (FSM), requests reconsideration of his earlier request to show award of the Prisoner of War (POW) Medal on the FSMs WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation Honorable Discharge).
2. The applicant states his father was awarded the POW Medal and requests a DD Form 215 be issued.
3. The applicant provides:
* a letter from a U.S. Senator
* Morning reports, dated 17 April and 22 May 1945
* Certificate of Birth
* Certificate of Death
* Hospital Admission Card Data File
* DA Form 1577 (Authorization for Issuance of Awards)
* citation for the Bronze Star Medal
* DD Form 2510 (POW Medal Application/Information), dated 25 October 1988
* portions of a letter, dated 24 July 1945, subject: Battle Participation Credit
* an unidentified typewritten extract identifying the FSM and relating to his military service
* WD AGO Form 53-55
* General Orders Number 7, dated 19 April 1945
* After Action Report, dated 1 May 1945
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 AR20100030220 on 28 June 2011.
2. The applicant submits morning reports which were not previously reviewed by the ABCMR; therefore, they are considered new evidence and as such warrant consideration by the Board.
3. The FSMs 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 his 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.
4. The available evidence shows the FSM enlisted in the Army on 2 July 1940.
5. His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows in:
* Item 32 (Battles and Campaigns) Northern France, Ardennes, Rhineland, and Central Europe
* Item 33 (Awards and Citations) the Purple Heart Medal, Good Conduct Ribbon, American Defense Service Ribbon, European-African-Middle Eastern Theater Ribbon with one silver battle star, and seven overseas service bars
* Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) that he was wounded in action in Germany 15 April 1945
* Item 55 (Remarks) does not show he was a POW
6. He was separated on 19 June 1945.
7. A search of the National Archives and Records Administration Access to Archival Databases - World War II, POW data files failed to show the FSM's name listed as a POW.
8. The applicant provides a copy of a morning report for Company A, 50th Signal Battalion, dated 17 April 1945, which shows the following entry on the FSM: "TDY to slightly wounded in action and captured 15 April 1945 Fr slightly wounded in action and captured to ret to dy not hospitalized."
9. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states 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 after 5 April 1917. The POW Medal is to be issued only to those U.S. military personnel and other personnel granted creditable U.S. military service who were taken prisoner and held captive:
* while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States
* while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force
* while serving with friendly forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party
* by foreign armed forces that are hostile to the United States, under circumstances which the Secretary concerned finds to have been comparable to those under which persons have generally been held captive by enemy armed forces during periods of armed conflict
10. Army Regulation 635-5 (Separations Documents) establishes the standardized policy for preparing and distributing discharge documents. In pertinent part, it directs that, for a Soldier with POW documentation, enter "PRISONER OF WAR, (unit of assignment/country) (date of capture and release date)" in the Remarks section.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicants request for reconsideration of his earlier request to show his father was awarded the POW Medal has been carefully considered and found to have merit.
2. The evidence provided clearly shows the FSM served overseas in WWII, was wounded in action, and was captured by enemy forces on 15 April 1945. Despite the lack of conclusive evidence of his release date from captivity, it would be appropriate to award him the POW Medal, and correct his WD AGO Form 53-55 to show his POW status and the POW medal.
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 amendment of the ABCMRs decision in Docket Number AR20100030220, dated 28 June 2011. As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by adding the POW Medal to item 33 of his WD AGO Form 53-55 and the statement Prisoner of War, Company A, 50th Signal Battalion, Germany 15 April 1945 to item 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) AR20120000849
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20120000849
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