BOARD DATE:	  10 January 2013

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20120010307 


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 applicants, daughters of a deceased former service member (FSM), request correction of their father's WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation – Honorable Discharge) to show award of the:

* Bronze Star Medal
* Prisoner of War (POW) Medal

2.  The applicants state their father's records should be corrected to properly note his service to the country during World War II.  

3.  The applicants provide:

* War Department Letter, dated 10 May 1945
* Congressional correspondence
* Letter, Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR), dated 22 March 2012
* Death Certificate, FSM
* Death Certificate, mother 
* WD AGO Form 53-55
* Extracts, "Report After Action, the Story of the 103d Infantry Division"  
* Map
* 2 Birth Certificates
* Statements, FSM
* American Jewish Historical Society Jewish Servicemen Card
* Honorable Discharge Certificate
* WD AGO Form 100 (Separation Qualification Record)
* Photograph
* Letter, National Personnel Records Center (NPRC), dated 1 March 2012

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 FSM's military and medical records are not available to the Board for review.  A fire destroyed approximately 18 million service members' records at the NPRC in 1973.  It is believed the FSM's records were lost or destroyed in that fire.  The case is being considered using the documentation provided with the application.

3.  The FSM was inducted into the Army of the United States on 28 September 1944 and he entered active service the same date.  The FSM's WD AGO Form 100 shows:

* his military occupational specialty as 745 (Rifleman)
* the highest rank/grade he attained while on active duty was private first class/E-3
* he served in Germany with the 410th Infantry Regiment, 103rd Infantry Division (Main) 
* he was awarded the:

*	Combat Infantryman Badge
*	European-African-Middle Eastern (EAME) Ribbon with 2 battle stars for the Rhineland and Central Europe campaigns 

4.  On 30 November 1946, the FSM was honorably discharged.  The WD AGO Form 53-55 he was issued at the time shows in:

* item 31 (Military Qualification and Date):
*	Combat Infantryman Badge, 3 April 1945
*	Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar (M-1), 22 November 1944

* item 32 (Battles and Campaigns), he participated in the Central Europe and Rhineland campaigns
* item 33 (Decorations and Citations) award of the:

*	Army Good Conduct Medal
		*	World War II Victory Medal
		*	Army of Occupation Medal [with Germany Clasp]
* European-African-Middle Eastern (EAME) Campaign Medal

* item 36 (Service Outside Continental U.S. and Return), he arrived in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) on 4 March 1945 and he departed the ETO on 22 May 1946 en route to the United States

5.  A letter from the War Department, The Adjutant General's Office, Washington, D.C., dated 10 May 1945, shows the FSM had been reported missing in action in Germany since 23 April 1945.

6.  The applicants provide a photograph of the FSM's Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) grave marker.  The grave marker provided by the VA shows the FSM's name, rank, branch of service, World War II, date of birth and death, and the entry, "POW."  

7.  The applicants also provide a letter from the NPRC which shows the FSM's entitlement to award of the Bronze Star Medal based on his receipt of the Combat Infantryman Badge.

8.  A review of the FSM's WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he is entitled to additional awards and decorations.

9.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states 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 achievement or service, during that period, was confirmed by documents executed prior to 1 July 1947.  An award of the Combat Infantryman Badge or the Combat Medical Badge is considered to be a citation in orders.  Therefore, the Bronze Star Medal is to be awarded to individuals who were authorized either badge for service during World War II.
10.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 states the Prisoner of War 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 Prisoner of War 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

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicants’ request for correction of their father's WD AGO Form 53-55 to show award of the Bronze Star Medal and POW Medal was carefully considered.

2.  Based on the FSM's award of the Combat Infantryman Badge, he is entitled to award of the Bronze Star Medal for his service in World War II.  Therefore, his WD AGO Form 53-55 should be corrected to show this award.

3.  With respect to the POW Medal, although the documentation used to verify the FSM's Prisoner of War status is unavailable, the available evidence shows the FSM was presumed captured by enemy forces in Germany and held in a POW status on 23 April 1945.  Despite the lack of conclusive evidence of his release date from captivity, it appears that 21 May 1945 (one day before he departed the ETO on 22 May 1945) may be an appropriate date as an approximate date of his return to military control.  Therefore, 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 a recommendation for relief.  As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by:

* awarding the FSM the:

*	Bronze Star Medal based upon award of the Combat Infantryman Badge

* adding to his WD AGO Form 53-55 the: 

* Bronze Star Medal
* POW Medal

* adding to the Remarks section of his WD AGO Form 53-55 the entry "PRISONER OF WAR: 410th Infantry, Germany, 23 April 1945 to 21 May 1945"




      _______ _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)                                         AR20120005405



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20120010307



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