PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           23 January 2001                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000040175

	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	
	Mrs. Nancy Amos		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Luther L. Santiful		Chairperson	
	Mr. Walter T. Morrison		Member	
	Mr. Thomas E. O’Shaughnessy, 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 Enlisted Record and Report of Separation, WD AGO Form 53-55, be corrected to show he had frozen feet, to show he was a prisoner of war (POW), and to show he held the rank of Corporal.  He also requests that he be awarded the Bronze Star Medal (BSM), the Silver Star (SS), and the Medal of Honor.  With regard to these awards, the applicant has not exhausted his administrative remedies and has been advised by separate correspondence to submit a recommendation for award of the BSM, the SS, and the Medal of Honor under the provisions of Title 10, U. S. Code, section 1130.

3.  The applicant states that his unit had not yet received winterized equipment when they fought in the Huertgen Forest and the Battle of the Bulge nor did he have such equipment when he was a POW.  He held the rank of Corporal Gunner of the 105 howitzer of his 2d platoon.  He should have been awarded the BSM for action on 17 December 1944 and the SS and the Medal of Honor for two escapes on 13 April 1945.

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 alternate sources.

5.  The applicant was inducted into the Army on and entered active duty on        14 September 1942.  He arrived in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) on 22 October 1943.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows that his arm of service was Infantry although his specialty was Cannoneer (Light Artillery).  He was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge.

6.  The U. S. Total Army Personnel Command has verified that the applicant was a POW who had been captured on 20 December 1944.  The information they have show that he returned to military control on 21 July 1945 but this is an error. The applicant contends he returned to military control on or about 17 April 1945 and his WD AGO Form 53-55 shows that he departed the ETO on 7 May 1945. He arrived in the States on 19 May 1945 and was separated on 23 August 1945. His final pay document shows that he was paid as a Private First Class.

7.  Army Regulation 600-45, then in effect, provided, in pertinent part, for the award of the Purple Heart to personnel severely frostbitten while actually engaged in combat. 

8.  Army Regulation 600-45 provided for the award of the BSM to members of the armed forces who, after 6 December 1941 and prior to 3 September 1945, had been cited in orders or in a formal certificate for meritorious or exemplary conduct in ground combat against the armed enemy.  A citation in orders for the Combat Infantryman Badge or Medical Badge awarded in the field during the period of actual combat against the armed enemy was considered as a citation for exemplary conduct in ground combat.  The evidence of record shows that the applicant was authorized issuance of the BSM based upon award of the Combat Infantryman Badge in 1988.

9.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides for the award of the POW Medal to soldiers who were taken prisoner and held captive while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States.  It will only be awarded when the individual’s POW status has been officially confirmed and recognized as such by the Department of the Army. 

10.  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 oversea theater commanders and the commanding Generals, Army Ground Forces, Army Air Forces, and Army Service Forces could waive the requirement of an authorized vacancy to appoint temporarily to the next higher enlisted grade any enlisted person below the first pay grade who was returned to U. S. military control from a status of prisoner of war provided such personnel were in such status for a period of 18 months or longer.  It also 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.  “Frozen feet” was not an authorized entry on the WD AGO Form 53-55 and is not an authorized entry on the current version of the separation document.  Had the applicant’s frozen feet been severe enough to have entitled him to award of the Purple Heart, an entry could have been made in item 34, Wounds Received in Action.  However, the Board presumes that his cold injuries were not too severe as he separated not due to a physical disability.

2.  The applicant provides no evidence to show that he held the rank of Corporal and no evidence to show that he may have been recommended for promotion to Corporal.  “Corporal Gunner” was not an authorized rank.  The Board presumes that “Corporal Gunner” may have been the title of the duty position he held in the unit.  The evidence also shows that he was not held in a POW status long enough to have been promoted to Corporal under the returning POW provisions of the regulation.

3.  The applicant is entitled to award of the BSM based upon his award of the Combat Infantryman Badge and was authorized issuance of the BSM in 1988.  He is also entitled to award of the POW Medal.

4.  If the applicant believes that he is entitled to award of the BSM for action on 17 December 1944, he should submit a recommendation for award of the BSM for this action under the provisions of Title 10, U. S. Code, section 1130.  He should request award of the BSM 1st oak leaf cluster.  

5.  In view of the foregoing, the applicant’s records should be corrected as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

1.  That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by amending the applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 to show he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and the POW Medal.

2.  That so much of the application as is in excess of the foregoing be denied.

BOARD VOTE:  

__lls___  __wtm___  __teo___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

			Luther L. Santiful
		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000040175	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20010123	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	131.00	
2.	107.0001	
3.	107.0007	
4.	107.0014	
5.		
6.