BOARD DATE: 7 May 2015
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20140016895
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 award of the Bronze Star Medal (BSM).
2. The applicant states he was recommended for award of the BSM and never received it.
3. The applicant provides a one-page letter explaining his application, two unauthenticated pages of what appears to be a recommendation for award of the BSM for the applicant, and a copy of his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation Honorable Discharge).
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 applicants 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 the applicant's records were lost or destroyed in that fire. However, the documents provided by the applicant are sufficient to conduct a fair and impartial review of this case.
3. The applicant was inducted on 17 August 1944. He completed his training and departed for the European Theater of Operations (ETO) on 6 January 1945. He served with Company G, 12th Infantry Regiment and participated in the Ardennes, Rhineland and Central Europe Campaigns. He was wounded in Germany on 7 March and 15 April 1945 and was awarded the Purple Heart 1st Bronze Leaf Cluster (now known as the oak leaf cluster (OLC)).
4. He departed the ETO on 3 July 1945 and arrived in the United States on 12 July 1945. On 1 May 1946, he was honorably discharged in the rank of staff sergeant at Fort Sheridan, Illinois. His WD AGO Form 53-55 issued at the time of his discharge shows that he was awarded the Good Conduct Medal, Purple Heart 1OLC, Belgian Fourragere, WWII Victory Medal, American Theater Ribbon, European-African-Middle Eastern Theater Ribbon with three bronze service stars and the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB).
5. The two-page recommendation for award of the BSM is not dated or signed. The narrative recommendation states the applicant thwarted an attempt by German soldiers to destroy American tanks that were defending the town of Ohrenbach, Germany. He was credited with saving the lives of American personnel, mortally wounding a German officer, and safely taking prisoners who conveyed the intent of their mission to destroy the American tanks.
6. 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.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. While the sincerity of the applicants claim that he was recommended for award of the BSM is not in doubt, there is no evidence to show that the recommendation was formally submitted into proper channels and the documents submitted by the applicant are not dated or signed by his commanding officers and thus do not constitute an official award recommendation.
2. However, the applicant was awarded the CIB and thus is entitled to an award of the BSM based on having been awarded the CIB during his tour of service in the ETO.
3. Accordingly, he should be awarded the BSM 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 him the BSM for meritorious service during WWII based on his award of the CIB and adding it to his DD Form 214.
_______ _ 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) AR20140016895
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20140016895
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