PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF

	BOARD DATE:            16 March 2000                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999029314

	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. Richard H. Allen 		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. Jennifer L. Prater		Chairperson	
	Mr.  Orville W. Troesch Jr.		Member	
	Mr. Christopher J. Prosser		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, correction of various separation documents issued at the time of his discharge from the Army after World War II (WWII) to show that his middle initial is “C” rather than “L”.  

3.  The applicant states that his middle initial is “C”, not “L” as shown on his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation–Honorable Discharge), a WD AGO Form 100 (Separation Qualification Record) and his Honorable Discharge Certificate, all completed and issued on 21 December 1945.  At the request of the staff of the Board, the applicant has provided additional documentation to include his birth certificate, issued by the State of Iowa on 19 August 1920, local church records (baptismal and confirmation) issued in 1920 and 1935 respectively, and documentation concerning his application for National Service Life Insurance (NSLI) in 1944, and other documents issued in 1944 and 1945, all showing his middle initial as “C”.  i

4.  The applicant’s military records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973.  Information herein was obtained from his separation documents and the documents he submitted to the Board.

5.  He was born on 19 August 1920 in Polk County Iowa.  His birth certificate shows his middle name as “Christopher”.  Baptismal and confirmation records from his home-town church shows his middle name is “Christopher”. 

6.  Military enlistment records and early service records are not available to the Board.  

7.  On 10 February 1944, the applicant made application for NSLI, prior to oversea deployment.  His middle name again was shown as “Christopher.”  Other NSLI documents issued on 1 March 1944 and 7 March 1946 show his middle name as “Christopher” or a middle initial of “C”.

8.  On 21 December 1945, the applicant was discharged from active duty.  His WD AGO Form 53-55, his WD AGO Form 100 and his Honorable Discharge Certificate all show his middle initial as “L”.  However, he signed his WD AGO Form 53-55 and WD AGO Form 100 using a middle initial of “C”.

9.  The WD AGO Form 53-55 is correctable by issuance of a DD Form 215 (Correction to WD AGO Form 214, the current Army separation document); the other documents are no longer in use or available.  However, corrections to older documents may be corrected by issuance of a certificate showing the correction to the document (s) in question. 

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence of record with his application and the additional documents the applicant provided clearly show that his middle name is “Christopher” and his middle initial is “C”.  Some of these documents were issued by the Army in 1944 and 1946.  Therefore, the Board concludes that his middle initial was “C” while he was in the Army during WWII.   

2.  For reasons unknown, an administrative error was made at the time of his discharge from active duty on 21 December 1945, and his separation documents  in the form of the WD AGO Form 53-55, the WD AGO Form 100 and the Honorable Discharge Certificate were all issued showing his middle initial as “L”.

3.  The Board concludes that these documents are in error as to his middle initial and should be appropriately amended.  

4.  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 on the WD AGO Form 53-55, WD AGO Form 100 and Honorable Discharge Certificate issued to the individual concerned on 21 December 1945 that his middle initial is “C” not “L”.  

BOARD VOTE:  

__jlp___  __owt____  __cjp____  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		__JENNIFER L. PRATER__
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999029314	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20000316	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY	DASA	
ISSUES         1.	110.00	
2.	100.01	
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.