PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           28 September 2000                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000041162

	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. Raymond V. O’Connor, Jr.		Chairperson	
	Mr. Ernest M. Willcher		Member	
	Mr. Donald P. Hupman, 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, in effect, that he be awarded the Combat Medical Badge and that his Enlisted Record and Report of Separation, WD AGO Form 53-55, and his discharge certificate be corrected to show his unit as the Medical Detachment, 108th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Gun Battalion.

3.  The applicant states that he served in combat at Anzio with the 108th         Anti-Aircraft Battalion and also during the invasion of France.  His unit for his whole enlistment and the unit from which he was separated was the 108th.

4.  The applicant's military records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire in 1973.  Information contained herein was obtained from alternate sources.

5.  On 19 January 1943, the applicant was inducted into the Army.  He entered active duty on 26 January 1943.  He held military occupational specialty 861 (Surgical Technician).  He arrived in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations on 2 September 1943.  He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for heroic achievement in action on 5 April 1944 when, during an intense artillery barrage, he helped rescue soldiers who were buried alive by an artillery shell burst or who were overcome by fumes from the exploded shell.  The General Orders noted his unit as Medical Department, Medical Detachment, Anti-Aircraft Artillery Gun Battalion (Mobile).  He departed the Mediterranean Theater of Operations on       9 August 1944 and arrived in the European Theater of Operations on 15 August 1944.  He departed the European Theater of Operations on 3 November 1945, returned stateside on 13 November 1945 and separated on 17 November 1945.  His WD AGO Form 53-55, item 6 and his Honorable Discharge Certificate show his organization as Medical Detachment, 216th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Gun Battalion.

6.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Combat Medical Badge could be awarded to Medical Department personnel assigned or attached to infantry units of brigade or smaller size who satisfactorily perform medical duties while the unit is engaged in actual ground combat, provided they are personally present and under fire.  The award was established to recognize medical aidmen who shared the same hazards and hardships of ground combat on a daily basis with the infantry soldier.  The regulation also provides for the award of the Army of Occupation Medal for service in Germany (exclusive of Berlin) between 9 May 1945 and 5 May 1955 for 30 consecutive days at a normal post of duty.

7.  Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-1 shows that the 108th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Gun Battalion received campaign credit for the Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe, Naples-Foggia, Rhineland, Rome-Arno, Southern France and Sicily 

(ground) campaigns, plus assault credit for Southern France and occupation credit for Germany.  It shows that the 216th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Gun Battalion received campaign credit for the Anzio, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe, Naples-Foggia, Rhineland, Rome-Arno, and Southern France campaigns, plus assault credit for Southern France and occupation credit for Germany.  The Sicily ground campaign began on 9 July and ended on 17 August 1943.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence of record shows, and the applicant agrees, that he served with an anti-aircraft unit.  The Board does not doubt that the applicant served in combat and that he served bravely but he did not meet the eligibility requirement for award of the Combat Medical Badge; i. e., he was not assigned to an infantry unit.

2.  While there is no evidence of record to show the applicant was assigned to the 108th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Gun Battalion, the circumstantial evidence shows that he most likely did serve with that unit rather than the 216th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Gun Battalion.  Both units received almost identical campaign credit, the key exception being the Sicily campaign.  The 216th received Sicily campaign credit; the 108th did not.  The Sicily campaign began and ended prior to the applicant’s arrival in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations; therefore, he could not have been assigned to the 216th at that time.  What most likely occurred is that the applicant was assigned to the 108th but the 216th was due to depart the overseas theater before the 108th and the applicant was assigned to the 216th for return stateside.  It would be appropriate to correct his WD AGO Form 53-55 and discharge certificates to show his unit as the Medical Detachment, 108th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Gun Battalion.

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

RECOMMENDATION:

1.  That the applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 be amended to show his organization as the Medical Detachment, 108th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Gun Battalion and to add the Army of Occupation Medal (Germany) and that his Honorable Discharge Certificate be corrected to show his organization as the Medical Detachment, 108th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Gun Battalion.

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

BOARD VOTE:  

__rvo___  __emw___  __dph___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		Raymond V. O’Connor, Jr.
		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000041162	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20000928	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.0113	
2.	100.00	
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.