PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:   

	BOARD DATE:           22 September 1999                 
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1998014170

	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. Richard H. Allen		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. Margaret K. Patterson. 		Chairperson	
	Mr. Curtis L. Greenway		Member	
	Mr. John P. Infante		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, in effect, correction of his separation documents to show all the military awards and decorations, and unit citations, to which he is entitled for his service during World War II (WWII).  In a second communication with the Board he specifically requests the award of the Purple Heart.  

3.  The applicant states, in essence, that he served overseas during WWII in Africa and Italy.  He was medically evacuated from the theater of operations and was returned to the United States and discharged in 1944.  He includes many documents with his application concerning his unit in the 45th Infantry Division; his Veteran Administration claims; the delayed award of a Silver Star to his platoon sergeant; a letter from a former officer in the platoon sergeant’s unit, concerning a justification for the award of the Silver Star to the platoon sergeant; newspaper articles concerning this latter individual’s award, in which the applicant is mentioned as being wounded; the applicant’s separation document (WD AGO Forms 53 (Report of Separation) and WD AGO Form 55 (Enlisted Record and Honorable Discharge Certificate); and a copy of the award of the Bronze Star Medal to the applicant on l July 1985, by the Department of the Army. 

4.  The applicant’s military records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973.  Information herein was obtained from partially reconstructed personnel records and the documents the applicant submitted with his application.  These documents show that he was inducted into the Army of the United States on 23 February 1942.  He appears to have been trained as an infantryman, and was assigned to Company L, 179th Infantry Regiment, which was part of the 45th Infantry Division.  He departed the United States on 8 June 1943, and he claims that he was sent to North Africa.  He arrived in the European-Middle Eastern-African (EAME) Theater of Operation on 22 June 1943..  

5.  His records show that he served with the 45th Infantry Division in campaigns in Sicily and in Italy and he claims to have served in North Africa and was involved with the invasions of Sicily, and at Salerno and Anzio on the Italian Peninsula.  His final assignment was as a squad leader and the highest rank he attained was staff sergeant.  His military specialty number was 653.  He also claims that he was hospitalized twice in a field hospital, once in North Africa and once at Salerno.  He states that he was medically evacuated from Anzio, through North Africa back to the United States.  

6.  Information contained with the application, to include the letter of support from a unit officer and the newspaper article concerning the award of the Silver Star to the applicant’s platoon sergeant, indicates that the applicant’s unit was pinned down by German forces near Pazzelle, Italy.  Two officers and 12 enlisted personnel were killed.  The platoon sergeant dragged his five other wounded soldiers into a house.  The Germans searched the house and removed their dead soldiers, but the American soldiers played dead and were not bothered by the Germans.  The next day, the sergeant returned his five wounded men to the battalion aid station. The applicant was one of these five wounded soldiers and lobbied extensively for award of the Silver Star to the platoon sergeant.  

7.  The applicant was medically evacuated from the EAME Theater of Operations on 22 May 1944 and was returned to the Rhoads General Hospital, Utica, New York.  The nature of his medical problem is not available in his records.  He was honorably discharged, with a Certificate of Disability Discharge (CDD) on 
29 June 1944, with the rank of staff sergeant.  His WD AGO Form 55, shows that he was credited with two campaigns while in Europe, the Sicilian Campaign and the “Italian” Campaign, but no campaign service stars were issued at that time.  His awards and decorations were shown as the EAME Theater Ribbon (now the EAME Campaign Medal), the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) and the WWII Lapel Button.  The form shows that he received no wounds in combat and was in good physical condition when discharged.  He had 10 days lost time, but served for 2 years, 3 months and 26 days.  The separation documents were issued by the Rhoads General Hospital.  

8.  On 1 July 1985, the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious achievement was issued by the Department of the Army to the applicant in recognition of his participation in combat operations in the EAME Theater of Operations during WWII.  However, this award is not reflected on his WD AGO 55.

9.  War Department Circular 269-1943 established the Combat Infantryman Badge and the Expert Infantryman Badge to recognize and provide an incentive to infantrymen.  The Expert Infantryman Badge was to be awarded for attainment of certain proficiency standards or by satisfactory performance of duty in action against the enemy.  The Combat Infantryman Badge was awarded for exemplary conduct in action against the enemy.  War Department Circular 186-1944 further provided that the Combat Infantryman Badge was to be awarded only to infantrymen serving with infantry units of brigade, regimental or smaller size.  The Awards Branch, Total Army Personnel Command, has advised in similar cases that, during World War II, the Combat Infantryman Badge was normally awarded only to enlisted individuals who served in the following positions:

    a.  Light machine gunner (604)
    b.  Heavy machine gunner (605)
    c.  Platoon sergeant (651)
    d.  Squad leader (653)
    e.  Rifleman (745)
    f.  Automatic rifleman (746)
    g.  Heavy weapons NCO (812)
    h.  Gun crewman (864)
10.  Army Regulation 600-8-22, Military Awards, provides, in pertinent part, that 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.  This means, in effect, that the Bronze Star Medal is to be awarded to individuals who were authorized either badge for service during World War II.

11. Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained as a result of hostile action.  Substantiating evidence must be provided to verify that the wound was the result of hostile action, the wound must have required treatment, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

12.  That same regulation, in pertinent part, authorizes award of the EAME Campaign Medal for qualifying service in the EAME Theater of Operations for the period 7 December 1941 to 8 November 1945.  That regulation also authorizes a bronze service star, based on qualifying service, for each campaign listed in Appendix B of this regulation and states that authorized bronze service stars will be worn on the appropriate campaign or service medal including the EAME Campaign Medal.  

13.  During the period that the applicant was assigned to the 179th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division June 1943 and May 1944, the Regiment received credit for participation in four campaigns in the EAME.  These included the Sicilian Campaign (Ground) from 9 September 1943-22 January 1944; the Naples-Foggio Campaign from 9 September 1943-22 January 1944;  the Anzio Campaign from 22 January-24 May 1944; and the Rome-Arno Campaign from 
22 January-24 May 1944.  

14.  The unit also received credit for two amphibious landing assaults across a beach, the first at Salerno of 9-10 September 1943; and the second at Anzio on 22-23 January 1944.  Bronze arrow heads are authorized for each landing assaults.  However, there is no evidence of record that the applicant personally participated in either or both of these landing assaults.  

15.  However, there is no evidence that the applicant’s unit (Company L, 179th Infantry Regiment) received any unit awards for valorous combat operations or outstanding service accomplishments, to include the Distinguished Unit Citation or the Meritorious Unit Citation.  

16.  The regulation also provides, in pertinent part, for award of the American Campaign Medal.  This campaign medal is awarded for qualifying service in the American Theater between 7 December 1941 and 2 March 1946, to include service within the continental United States for an aggregate period of one year.

17  Finally, that regulation provides, in pertinent part, for award of the WWII Victory Medal.  It is awarded for service between 7 December 1941 and 
31 December 1946, both dates inclusive.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  While there is no definitive medical evidence that the applicant received a wound while in combat, there is sufficient evidence available to show that he was wounded while in combat.  This is evidenced by the award of the Silver Star to his platoon sergeant for saving five other wounded soldiers’ lives in Italy; the applicant was one of these five soldiers.  Further, he was medically evacuated from Italy and was discharged with a CDD from a military medical facility.  

2.  In view of the foregoing, the Board concludes that the applicant is entitled to award of the Purple Heart for wounds received in combat on 7 November
1943 while in Italy. 

3.  Further, the Board concludes that the applicant is entitled to award of the American Campaign Medal, since he served in the United States for at least  year; and the World War II Victory Medal.

4.  Additionally, since the applicant qualified for award of the CIB, the award of the Bronze Star Medal by the Department of the Army on l July 1985 was proper, and should be added to his separation documents.  

5.  The Board cannot determine specifically which campaigns the applicant participated in with the 179th Infantry Regiment in Italy from the fall of 1943 through the spring of 1944.  He has already been given specific credit for the Sicilian Campaign on his WD AGO 55.  The credit for the “Italian” campaign is less clear.  He claims to have participated in operations at Salerno and Anzio.  Therefore, in fairness to the applicant, he should be given campaign credit for four operations in Italy, by correction his WD AGO Form 55 to show that he participated in the Sicilian Campaign (Ground); by deleting the reference to the Italian Campaign; and by adding the Naples-Foggio Campaign; the Anzio Campaign; and the Rome-Arno Campaign.

6.  Therefore, as the result of these campaign credits, he is also entitled to wear four bronze service stars on his EAME Campaign Medal for each of these campaigns.  

7.  However, without definitive proof of participation in amphibious landing assaults at Salerno and Anzio, he is not entitled to award of bronze arrow heads for these operations.  

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

RECOMMENDATION:

1.  That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by making corrections to the original copy of the WD AGO Form 55 issued to the individual concerned on 29 June 1944 to show:

a.   that he is entitled to campaign credit for the Sicilian Campaign (Ground);

b.  that the reference to the Italian Campaign is deleted; 

c.  that he is entitled to campaign credits for the Naples-Foggio Campaign; the Anzio Campaign; and the Rome-Arno Campaign; and 

d.  that he is entitled to award of the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star Medal; the American Campaign Medal; the World War II Victory Medal and four bronze service stars for wear on his EAME Campaign Medal.  

2.  That so much of the application as is in excess of the foregoing be denied 

3.  That upon completion of the above actions, that the original and/or copies of the many documents he provided with his application be returned to him.  

BOARD VOTE:  

__MKP__  ___JPI__  __CLG__  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1998014170	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	19990922	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT PLUS	
REVIEW AUTHORITY	DASA	
ISSUES         1.	107.00	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.