BOARD DATE:	  29 November 2012

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20120008800 


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, item 30 (Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) and Number) of his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation) be corrected to show an infantry MOS, telephone field lineman MOS, an artillery MOS, and a different food service MOS.  

2.  The applicant states:

	a.  this error of omission apparently caused the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) to deny his original claim for the loss of his hearing in 1954 and later in 2005.  The injustice of the error misled the DVA and will continue to mislead others about his military record until it is corrected.  Until 2005, he just presumed the campaigns and decorations were adequate as they inferred active battle participation.   

	b.  his WD AGO Form 53-55 shows his MOS as 824 (mess sergeant).  In 2005, he applied for disability due to a profound hearing loss which he maintained was service connected.  At the first appeal stage he was denied on the basis he was a mess sergeant and it implied he could not have been exposed to a noise-induced combat environment.  On appeal in 2005, the DVA examined his military record and made a favorable service-connected disability decision.



	c.  he served as a replacement in combat in the 10th Field Artillery Battalion of the 3rd Infantry Division from 22 January 1944 to the end of the war on 8 May 1945.  During this time he was an artillery man with a training specialty as a telephone field lineman and he also functioned as an ammunition handler, ammunition guard, ammunition truck driver, security guard, and field radio bearer.  At the end of the war, he was permanently assigned to the field kitchen unit as a kitchen helper.  He made a cook's assistant.   

	d.  item 30 of his WD AGO Form 53-55 is incorrect since he never completed the "hands on" job orientation as an Army cook or mess sergeant.  From March 1943 through July 1943 he was trained as a general artilleryman, with specialization as telephone field lineman.  From January 1944, he entered combat as a general artilleryman with principal duties as a telephone field lineman and other artillery functions until the end of the war. 

3.  The applicant provides:

* WD AGO Form 53-55
* Appeal response to a DVA Rating Decision
* DVA decision
* Hospital report
* V-mails, dated 1944
* Pages 146 and 541 of an article titled "History of the Third Division in WW2"
* Memoirs about the Anzio campaign
* Service medical records
* Extracts from War Department Technical Manual 12-427

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 complete 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.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he was inducted into the Army of the United States on 17 March 1943 and he entered active duty on 24 March 1943.  He served in the European Theater of Operations from 27 November 1943 to 
16 November 1945 and he was honorably discharged on 2 December 1945.

4.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 also shows:

* his Arm or Service was Field Artillery
* his organization was Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 10th Field Artillery Battalion
* he held MOS 824 (mess sergeant) at the time of his separation
* he participated in the Rome-Arno, Southern France, Rhineland, and Central Europe  campaigns
* he was awarded the Good Conduct Medal, Distinguished Unit Citation, World War II Victory Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with four bronze service stars and one bronze arrowhead

5.  There is no evidence of record which shows he was awarded an infantry, field lineman, artillery, or food service MOS (other than MOS 824) during World War II.

6.  In support of his claim, he provided:

* a service medical record, dated 29 February 1944, which states he was a new replacement in combat
* V-mail, dated 8 April 1944, which indicates he was on the beachhead at Anzio, Italy and he was "still in the wire business"
* A service medical record, dated May 1944, which shows he was treated for a knee injury at the 1st Battalion aid station of the 7th Infantry Regiment
* A service medical record, dated 29 May 1944, which states he injured his knee when he fell with a reel of wire     




7.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states the “arrowhead” will be worn 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.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant's contentions that he served as a replacement in combat, he was an artillery man with a training specialty as a telephone field lineman, and he functioned as an ammunition handler, ammunition guard and truck driver, security guard, and field radio bearer were noted.  The documentation he provided was also carefully considered.  

2.  There is no evidence of record and he provided no evidence which shows he was awarded an infantry, field lineman, artillery, or food service MOS (other than MOS 824) during World War II.  In the absence of MOS orders, regrettably, there is insufficient evidence on which to base amending item 30 of his WD AGO Form 53-55. 

3.  It is noted his WD AGO Form 53-55 does show his branch as field artillery and he participated in an assault landing, which would appear to mean he was exposed to a noise-induced combat environment.  While it's insufficient to change his WD AGO Form 53-55, he may desire to point out this information to the DVA.   

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

__x___  ____x____  ___x_____  DENY APPLICATION



BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

1.  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.

2.  The Board wants the applicant and all others concerned to know that this action in no way diminishes the sacrifices made by the applicant in service to our Nation.  The applicant and all Americans should be justifiably proud of his service in arms.



      _______ _  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)                                         AR20120008800





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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20120008800



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