PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:  13 April 2000
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999026372

	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. Paul A. Petty .		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Fred N. Eichorn		Chairperson	
	Ms. Sherri V. Ward		Member	
	Ms. Celia L. Adolphi		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 his honorable discharge report of separation (WD AGO Form 53-55) and his honorable discharge certificate show his WW II combat unit with which he fought in the European Theater of Operations (ETO); and that he be provided any additional awards to which he is entitled.

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that he trained in the U.S. with Company D, 3rd Platoon, 2nd Squad, 339th Infantry Regiment, 85th Infantry Division and then fought in combat with this unit in the ETO.  He was returned to the U.S. as an individual and separated from the service from a unit with which he had no association other than out processing after WW II.  He wants his records to show the unit he trained and fought with in WW II so that his tombstone will show the correct information.  The applicant supplied a copy of his discharge report and certificate.

4.  The applicant’s military records are not available and are presumed destroyed in the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, when approximately 18 million service members’ records, including many from WW II, were destroyed.  The applicant’s discharge report, WD AGO Form 53-55, shows that he enlisted in the Army on 15 October 1942 and served as a light mortar crewman.  After training, he departed from the U.S. on 24 December 1943 and arrived in the ETO on 2 January 1944.  He was credited with participation in three campaigns: Rome-Arno, Northern Appennines, and Po Valley.  He was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge, the American Theater Campaign Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with three bronze service stars, the World War II Victory Medal, and a Good Conduct Medal.  He departed the ETO on 30 August 1945 and returned to the U.S. on 13 September 1945.  He was discharge from Fort Jackson, South Carolina, on 10 November 1945 by reason of demobilization.  The unit at Fort Jackson from which he was discharged was not the unit with which he had trained and fought in the ETO.

5.  A Company Morning Report from Company D, 339th Infantry, 85th Infantry Division, dated 9 April 1944, states that the applicant, a member of that unit, was promoted to Private First Class (PFC) E-3 as of 8 March 1944 by company orders.

6.  According to Army Regulation 600-8-2, Military Awards, paragraph 3-13, a member of the Armed Forces of the United States who, between 7 December 1941 and 2 September 1945, was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB), the Combat Medical Badge (CMB), or other certificate for exemplary conduct in ground combat against an armed enemy, is eligible for award of the Bronze Star Medal (BSM).

7.  According to the DA Pamphlet 672-1, Unit Citation and Campaign Participation Credit Register, members of the 339th Infantry Regiment from 1 December 1943 to 31 July 1944 were awarded the foreign award, French Croix de Guerre, by DA General Order 43-50.  Foreign awards are not available from the U.S. Government but may be purchased by the recipient from private suppliers.
CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant fought in the European Theater of Operations with Company D, 339th Infantry Regiment, 85th Infantry Division, for the majority of his service during WW II.  As such, his discharge report and certificate should show this unit as his organization and unit at discharge.

2.  The applicant is authorized the additional award of the Bronze Star Medal and the French Croix de Guerre and he should be provided the Bronze Star 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 for the individual concerned by:

	a.  issuing a correction to his WD AGO Form 53-55 to show that his discharge organization was Company D, 339th Infantry Regiment, 85th Infantry Division, and that he was also awarded the Bronze Star Medal and the French Croix du Guerre;

	b.  issuing him an honorable discharge certificate to show that his unit was Company D, 339th Infantry Regiment, 85th Infantry Division; and

	c.  issuing him a Bronze Star Medal.

BOARD VOTE:  

________  ________  ________  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

__FE___  __SW____  ___CA___  DENY APPLICATION

		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999026372	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20000413	
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.		
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.