PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:            24 February 1999
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AC98-09546
	                                    AR1998012034

	I certify that hereinafter is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in the case of the above-named individual.  

	Mr. Loren G. Harrell		Director	
	Mr. Paul A. Petty		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Calvin M. Fowler		Chairperson	
	Mr. Mark D. Manning		Member	
	Ms. Barbara J. Ellis		Member	

	The applicant and counsel if any, did not appear before the Board.

	The Board considered the following evidence:

	Exhibit A - Application for correction of military 
                records
	Exhibit B - Military Personnel Records (including
	            advisory opinion, if any)

FINDINGS:

1.  The applicant has exhausted or the Board has waived the requirement for exhaustion of all administrative remedies afforded by existing law or regulations.

2.  The applicant requests that he be awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) for his participation as an infantryman in the crossing of the Rhine River at Remagen during WWII.

3.  The applicant states in a telephone conversation with Board examiner, that he was assigned to Company G, 2nd Battalion, 311th Infantry Regiment, 78th Infantry Division as an automatic rifleman, Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) 746, beginning 27 February 1945.  He volunteered for the infantry in response to a call for such after the Battle of the Bulge.  He was one of the 2221 Negro Volunteers that answered the call.  He was given basic infantry combat training at the 
16th Reinforcement Depot in France in January and February 1945 and then assigned as a member of a platoon to the Company G.  They departed the 
16th Reinforcement Depot by truck on 27 February 1945 and arrived at Remagen on or about 10 March 1945 at about 1800 hours and took shelter from enemy shelling in the basement of a building in Remagen.  At about 0100 hours on 
11 March 1945, the platoon crossed the Rhine River on a pontoon bridge a little north of the Remagen Ludendorf Bridge.  The pontoon bridge was under enemy artillery fire.  The platoon moved up the east bank of the Rhine River arriving sometime in the morning at the 311th Regiment Command Post (CP) at Mauser's Estate.  There, they rested and were briefed on the battle situation.  They then moved forward and joined Company G on the front line in the vicinity of Honnef, Germany on the east side of the Rhine River arriving about 1100 hours on 
11 March.  There they dug foxholes and held their position overnight receiving enemy artillery fire.  On 12 March, the applicant was assigned duty at a telephone communications point on the front line in a dugout.  While there, he talked to his Sergeant and asked to get some medical attention for painful hemorrhoids he had developed from the many days of truck travel and binding of the bowels.  He was taken to an aid station for examination.  His condition was such that he was evacuated on 13 March by airplane to Paris for hospitalization.  The applicant states that he was surprised to be evacuated as he thought that the aid station could just give him something for the problem.  He was returned to 
G Company from the hospital on or about 17 April 1945.  At that time, his company was performing occupation duty in the Ruhr Valley area east of Cologne, Germany.  The applicant states that he should have received the CIB for being shelled by the enemy on the front lines at several locations near Remagen and Honnef although he did not get the opportunity to engage the enemy in small arms combat.

4.  The applicant’s military records could not be found and are presumed to have been destroyed in the fire in the National Personnel Records Center in 1973.  The applicant has provided a copy of his original WD AGO Form 53-55, Enlisted Record and Report of Separation Honorable Discharge.  This document shows that the applicant was inducted into the Army and entered active service on 
9 December 1943.  He served in Europe from 13 July 1944 to 15 April 1946 and was advanced to the grade of Tech 5.  His MOS was Rifleman Automatic - 746 and he was discharged from Company G, 311th Infantry Regiment, 78th Infantry Division.  He was honorably discharged on 30 April 1946.  He was awarded the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 2 bronze service stars, the World War II Victory Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, 
3 overseas bars, and the Rifle Marksmanship Badge.

5.  According to Army Regulation 600-8-22, Military Awards, the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) is awarded to a soldier with an infantry MOS who is assigned or attached to an infantry, ranger, or special forces unit of brigade, regimental, or smaller size during any period that such unit was engaged in active ground combat with the enemy.  The soldier must have been personally present and under hostile fire while serving in an assigned infantry or special forces primary duty, in a unit actively engaged in ground combat with the enemy. During World War II, the CIB was authorized during the period 7 December 1941 to 3 September 1945 for infantry soldiers who served as above and held one of the following MOS: rifleman (745), automatic rifleman (746), light machine gunner (604), heavy machine gunner (605), gun crewman (864), .platoon sergeant (651), squad leader (653), heavy weapons NCO (812).

6.  The Military Awards regulation also provides that the Bronze Star Medal will be awarded to soldiers who also received the CIB in WWII.

7.  The Military Awards regulation also provides that the Army of Occupation of Germany Medal is authorized for soldiers who served 30 consecutive days in Germany (exclusive of Berlin) between 9 May 1945 and 5 May 1955.  Service between 9 May and     8 November 1945 will be counted only if the European-African-Middle Easter Campaign Medal was awarded for service before 9 May 1945.  The 311th Infantry Regiment was given occupation of Germany credit for the period 20 May to 31 October 1945.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  That the applicant was an infantryman with an infantry MOS (rifleman automatic -746), assigned to an infantry unit (Company G, 311th Infantry Regiment), who was present and involved in ground combat with the enemy for  3 days in crossing the Rhine River at Remagan and holding the bridge head and as such is eligible for award of the CIB and the related Bronze Star Medal.

2.  That the applicant was discharged from the 311th Infantry Regiment on 
30 April 1946 which regiment was given occupation of Germany credit during the period 20 May to 31 October 1945 and as such the applicant is eligible for award of the Army of Occupation of Germany Medal.

3.  In view of the foregoing, the applicant’s records should be corrected as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by:

	a.  issuing a correction to the individuals discharge document showing that he was awarded the CIB, the Bronze Star Medal, and the Army of Occupation of Germany Medal; and

	b.  issuing to the individual the CIB, the Bronze Star Medal, and the Army of Occupation of Germany Medal.

BOARD VOTE:  

_CMF___  _MDM___  _BJE ___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		_Calvin M. Fowler___
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AC98-09546/AR1998012034	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	19990224	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	HD	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	19460430	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.00	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.