PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:            21 December 1999                 
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999022873

	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. W. E. Schnupp		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Hubert O. Fry, Jr.		Chairperson	
	Ms. Meta Waller		Member	
	Ms. Debra Williams		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 his service discharge record be updated to include additional citations and decorations awarded after discharge, specifically the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Bronze Star Medal, the Japan Occupation Medal and the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation.

3.  The applicant states that his Discharge Certificate (WD AGO Form 53-55) contains an incomplete list of decoration he was awarded.  Additional regiment and division citations and decorations were awarded on dates after discharge. These awards were for service dates while he served in the military.  Some decorations were awarded 5 years after his discharge.

4.  The applicant’s military records were lost or destroyed in the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center.  Information herein was derived from documents furnished by the applicant.

5.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows that he was inducted on 22 February 1942 and served in the Pacific Theater of Operations as an infantryman with the 123rd Infantry Regiment, 33rd Infantry Division from July 1943 to November 1945. He was honorably discharged at demobilization with a Certificate for Disability on    19 November 1945 in the grade of sergeant.

6.  His awards (as reflected on the WD AGO Form 53-55) include the American Service Medal, the American Defense Service Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the Philippine Liberation Medal with one bronze service star, the Good Conduct Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the Honorable Service Lapel Button WWII, the Combat Infantryman Badge,  the Expert Infantryman Badge, the Sharpshooter Badge with rifle bar and the Second Class Gunners Award for the heavy machine gun.

7.  Subsequent to the cessation of hostilities during World War II, the regulation governing the award of the Bronze Star Medal was changed, in part, to provide for the award of this decoration to those individuals who had been awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge or the Combat Medical Badge for meritorious achievement in ground combat against the armed enemy between 7 December 1941 and 2 September 1945.

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22, Military Awards, provides, in pertinent part, that the Army of Occupation Medal (Japan) was awarded for service for                   30 consecutive days at a normal post of duty while assigned to the Army of Occupation of Japan between 3 September 1945 and 27 April 1952.  Service between 3 September 1945 and 2 March 1946 would be counted only if the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal was awarded for service prior to 3 September 1945.

9.  DA Pamphlet 672-3, The Unit Citation and Campaign Participation Credit Register, lists units which have been awarded Unit Citations, assault and occupation credit and foreign unit awards.  The register shows that the 123rd Infantry Regiment was awarded the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation for two period of service from 7 December 1941 to 10 May 1942 and 17 October 1944 to 4 July 1945.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Based on revised procedures for awarding the Bronze Star Medal, since the applicant was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge he is entitled to be awarded the Bronze Star Medal. 

2.  Likewise, considering his period of service and unit of assignment in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations he is also entitled to the Army of Occupation Medal (Japan) and the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation.

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.  showing that the individual concerned was awarded the Bronze Star Medal (based on award of the CIB), the Army of Occupation Medal (Japan) and the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation; and

	b.  providing him a correction to his WD AGO Form 53-55 reflecting the foregoing awards and issuing him the medals.

BOARD VOTE:  

_hof____  _mw_____  __dw ___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		_Hubert O. Fry, Jr.___________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999022873	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	19991221	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  107.00		
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.