PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:        

	BOARD DATE:            16 December 1999
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999017068

	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. Joseph A. Adriance		Analyst	

The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Fred K. McCoy		Chairperson	
	Mr. Raymond V. O’Connor, Jr.		Member	
	Mr. Stanley Kelley		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, that the first name contained in his military records be corrected.  

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that when he entered the Army he used his nickname as opposed to his correct first name which caused his first name to be recorded incorrectly on his military records.  He indicates that he never thought this was important until he ran into difficulty when filing a claim for medical benefits and would like this corrected to avoid other potential problems.  He submits his birth certificate and a letter from the Social Security Administration in support of his application.

4.  The applicant’s military records were not available for review.  A fire destroyed approximately 18 million service members’ records at the National Personnel Records Center in 1973, and it is possible that the applicant’s records were among the lost records.  However, there is a properly constituted 
War Department (WD) Adjutant General Officer (AGO) Form 53-55 on file.  

5.  The WD AGO Form 53-55 shows that the applicant was inducted into the Army of the United States on 9 February 1942 and that he served on active duty  for 3 years, 10 months, and 1 day.  On 9 December 1945, he was honorably discharged as a result of demobilization.  This document records the applicant’s first name as Benjamin.

6.  The applicant has submitted a birth certificate issued by the Bureau of Vital Statistics of Cook County, Chicago, Illinois, which shows that applicant was born on 25 June 1919 and that his first name is Bernard.  In addition, he has provided a letter from the Social Security Administration Office of Hickory Hills, Illinois, which also verifies his first name is Bernard.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The Board found that there is sufficient evidence to conclude that the applicant’s military records incorrectly recorded his first name as Benjamin, when in fact his correct first name was Bernard.  Although this occurred as a result of the applicant providing an incorrect name, his nickname, the Board concluded it was done with the absence of malice and that a correction of this error would be appropriate at this time.  

2.  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 showing that the first name of the individual concerned as Bernard vice the current recorded incorrect first name of Benjamin.

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

BOARD VOTE:  

___sk ___  __fkm___  ___rvo __  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		______Fred K. McCoy______
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999017068	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	1999/12/16	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	HD	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	1945/12/09	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR 615-365	
DISCHARGE REASON	Demobilization	
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  2	100.0100	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.