APPLICANT REQUESTS:  Correction of his military records to show he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB).

APPLICANT STATES:  He was shipped to the Philippines in 1945.  While Japan had recently surrendered, hostilities had not completely ended, the unit was officially still in a combat alert zone and the occasional Japanese soldiers were still on the loose

EVIDENCE OF RECORD:  The applicant’s military records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973.  Information contained herein was obtained from alternate sources.

He was inducted into the Army on 3 January 1945.  He arrived in the Pacific Theater of Operations on 16 September 1945, where he served as a rifleman with Company F, 1st Infantry, and departed on 21 September 1946.  He was discharged on 28 November 1946.

Army Regulation 600-8-22 prescribes Army policy, criteria and administrative instructions concerning individual military awards.  In pertinent part, it provides for the award of the Combat Infantryman Badge to a soldier who is an infantryman satisfactorily performing infantry duties, who is assigned to an infantry unit during such time as the unit is engaged in active ground combat against enemy ground forces, and must actively participate in such ground combat.  Campaign or battle credit alone is not sufficient for award of the CIB.
The inclusive period for award of the CIB during World War II was 7 December 1941 - 3 September 1945.

DISCUSSION:  Considering all the evidence, allegations, and information presented by the applicant, together with the evidence of record, applicable law and regulations, it is concluded:

1.  In order to justify correction of a military record the applicant must show to the satisfaction of the Board, or it must otherwise satisfactorily appear, that the record is in error or unjust.  

2.  The applicant did not arrive in the Pacific Theater until after the closing period for award of the CIB for World War II.  Also, by his statement, he and his unit never engaged in ground combat against enemy ground forces, only in activity against the “occasional Japanese soldiers still on the loose.”

3.  In view of the foregoing, there is no basis for granting the applicant’s request.
DETERMINATION:  The applicant has failed to submit sufficient relevant evidence to demonstrate the existence of probable error or injustice.

BOARD VOTE:

                       GRANT          

                       GRANT FORMAL HEARING

                       DENY APPLICATION

						Loren G. Harrell
						Director