BOARD DATE: 1 May 2014
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20130015820
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 that the records of his deceased father, a former service member (FSM), be corrected by awarding him the Bronze Star Medal (BSM) and adding it to his records.
2. The applicant states, in effect, that his father was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) and should have been awarded the BSM.
3. The applicant provides copies of the FSMs WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation Honorable Discharge), death certificate, and the applicants birth certificate.
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 was inducted into the Army of the United States on 7 June 1944. He completed his training and departed for the European Theater of Operations (ETO) on 19 February 1945. He was assigned to the 86th Infantry Division and departed the ETO on 12 February 1946.
3. He arrived in the United States on 21 February 1946 and was transferred to Fort Devens, Massachusetts where he was honorably discharged on
26 February 1946. His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows that he was awarded the CIB, European-African-Middle Eastern Theater Campaign Ribbon, Good Conduct, and World War II (WWII) Victory Medal.
4. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states the BSM is awarded for heroism and for meritorious achievement or service in military operations against an armed enemy. The BSM 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 CIB or the Combat Medical Badge is considered to be a citation in orders. Therefore, the BSM is to be awarded to individuals who were authorized either badge for service during WWII.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The FSM was awarded the CIB during WWII and thus was eligible for award of the BSM.
2. Accordingly, he should be awarded the BSM (posthumously) based on his award of the CIB and it should be added to his WD AGO Form 53-55.
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 BSM (Posthumously) based on his award of the CIB and adding it to his WD AGO Form 53-55.
_______ _ 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.
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