PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           10 November 1999                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999026906

	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	
	Mrs. Nancy Amos		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. Irene N. Wheelwright		Chairperson	
	Mr. Curtis L. Greenway		Member	
	Ms. Margaret V. Thompson		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 item 38 of his Report of Separation be corrected to show his highest grade held as Corporal.

3.  The applicant states that he could never prove he was a Corporal until he was sent a unit Christmas menu from 1943.

4.  The applicant’s military records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire in 1973.  The information contained herein was obtained from documents provided by the applicant and his service medical records.

5.  The applicant entered active duty on 11 December 1942.  He provides a copy of a company Christmas card/Christmas dinner menu that lists his name under the “Corporals” section.

6.  The applicant was hospitalized in March 1945 for combat fatigue and psychoneurosis.  All medical documents, except one Form 52, show his rank as Private First Class.  That Form 52 has two entries – 7 January 1943 for treatment of a cold and 20 August 1943 for treatment of chapped lips.  Item 3 on this form shows “Cpl” overwritten on another entry that appears to be “Pvt.”  Most of the other medical documents available pertain to his treatment after March 1945.

7.  Army Regulation 615-5, in effect at the time, governed the appointment and reduction of noncommissioned officers and Privates First Class.  In pertinent part, it stated that noncommissioned officers appointed during an emergency under special authorization of the War Department would be temporary appointments.  In order to provide an opportunity to observe the performance of candidates for higher grades, unit commanders were authorized to exceed their authorized allotments in any grade by the number of vacancies that existed in a higher grade pending the promotion of the best-qualified candidate(s). 

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  While the applicant’s personnel records are not available, the Board concludes from the evidence provided by the applicant, corroborated by the one Form 52 available, that he was temporarily appointed to Corporal some time in 1943.  

2.  In view of the foregoing, it would be in the interest of justice to correct the applicant’s records as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by showing the applicant had been temporarily appointed to Corporal and by correcting item 38 of his Report of Separation to read Corporal.

BOARD VOTE:  

________  ________  ________  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

__inw___  __clg___  __mvt___  DENY APPLICATION

		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999026906	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	19991110	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	100.00	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.