PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:.

	BOARD DATE:            20 June 2000      
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000036189

	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. Carl W. S. Chun		Director	
	Ms. Deborah L. Brantley		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Van B. Cunningham		Chairperson	
	Mr. James E. Anderholm		Member	
	Mr. Ernest W. Lutz, Jr.		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 separation document be corrected to reflect assignment to Company H, 142nd Infantry Regiment.  He states, in effect, that while item 6 (organization) on his WD AGO Form 53-55 shows that he was assigned to Company L, 422 Infantry he was assigned there only briefly.  He notes, in effect, that he served proudly with the 142nd Infantry Regiment and would like that unit reflected on his separation document.

3.  Although the applicant’s military personnel file was apparently lost or destroyed during the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center, information reconstructed from documents provided by the applicant indicate he entered active duty on 6 January 1943 and served overseas with Company H, 142nd  Infantry Regiment between June 1943 and September 1945.

4.  He was awarded a Bronze Star Medal and Combat Infantryman Badge while assigned to the 142nd Infantry Regiment. 

5.  At the time he was released from active duty on 11 October 1945, as a result of demobilization, his separation document indicated he was assigned to Company L, 422nd Infantry.

6.  Technical Manual 12-235, which prescribed the policy and procedures for the preparation and distribution of separation documents during the period in question, states that the last unit, or similar element to which the individual was assigned, rather than the element of which he was a part while moving to a separation activity will be entered in item 6 (organization) of the WD AGO Form 53-55.  It also notes that assignments to units for purpose of transfer from a theater to the United States is considered part of the movement to a separation activity.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  There is sufficient evidence to conclude that the applicant was assigned to Company H, 142nd Infantry Regiment while overseas and that Company L, 422nd Infantry was likely a transitional unit based on the short period of time between his departure from the overseas theater and his separation from active duty.

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 the applicant was assigned to Company H, 142nd Infantry Regiment.

BOARD VOTE:  

__vbc___  ___jea__  ___ewl__  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000036189	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20000620	
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.	110.00	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.