PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           20 July 2000                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000041176

	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. Samuel A. Crumpler		Chairperson	
	Ms. Ann M. Campbell		Member	
	Mr. Kenneth L. Wright		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 WD AGO Form 53-55, Enlisted Record and Report of Separation, be corrected to read “5’ 8” in block 15; “infantryman” in block 30; “ASTP” in block 31, and corrected to add “Germany” in block 32.

3.  The applicant states that he was an infantryman.  He only helped out for a short period of time as a clerk at the 9th Replacement Depot because he had taken typing in high school.  He was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) but it was lost in France.  He provides a picture of himself wearing the CIB as supporting evidence.

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 8 July 1943 and entered active duty on 29 July 1943.  He arrived in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) on 23 September 1944.  He was wounded in action on 5 March 1945.  The Surgeon General’s Office Hospital Admission Cards show that his arm of service was infantry.  He departed the ETO on 14 January 1946 and was separated on 29 January 1946.  His final pay worksheet shows he was paid Combat Infantryman Pay from 1 December 1945 to 29 January 1946.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows his arm of service as infantry and his organization at time of separation as Company A, 54th Armored Infantry Battalion.  His Separation Qualification Record shows he performed 3 months of duty in infantry basic training; 12 months of duty as a rifleman (military occupational specialty 745);     8 months of duty as a general clerk; and 4 months of duty as a heavy truck driver.

6.  The applicant’s WD AGO 53-55, block 15 shows his height as “5-3,” block 30 shows his military occupational specialty as “Clerk General 055,” block 31 shows his military qualification and date (i. e., infantry, aviation and marksmanship badges, etc.) as “None,” and block 32 shows he participated in the Ardennes, Central Europe and Rhineland campaigns.

7.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 prescribes Army policy and criteria concerning individual military awards.  It provides for the award of the Combat Infantryman Badge to a soldier who is an infantryman satisfactorily performing infantry duties, who is assigned to an infantry unit during such time as the unit is engaged in active ground combat, and must actively participate in such ground combat.  It also provides for the award of the Bronze Star Medal to members of the armed forces who, after 6 December 1941 and prior to 3 September 1945, have 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 is considered as a citation for exemplary conduct in ground combat.  Table B-1 lists the authorized campaigns for all wars. A “Germany” campaign is not listed for World War II.  Only the Northern Apennines and Po Valley campaigns for Italy and the Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe campaigns for other European areas are listed for the period 23 September 1944 through 14 January 1946.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  A “Germany” campaign is not an authorized campaign listed in the governing regulation and so is not an authorized entry on the applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55.

2.  The applicant provides no evidence, either contemporaneous or current, to show his height as 5 foot 8 inches and so the Board presumes that the entry in block 15 of his WD AGO Form 53-55 was correct.

3.  The Board accepts the applicant’s contention that he was an infantryman, more specifically, a rifleman, MOS 745, and not a clerk.  Although the Board cannot determine from the photo the applicant provides that he was wearing the CIB at the time the photo was taken, he was trained as an infantryman.  Both the Hospital Admissions Cards and the WD AGO Form 53-55 show he was in the infantry arm.  He was assigned to an infantry unit at the time of his separation.  He was receiving Combat Infantryman Pay at the time he separated.  The Board concludes that he was an infantryman/rifleman who may have performed additional duties as a clerk and/or driver.  It would be appropriate to correct block 30 of his WD AGO Form 53-55 to show he was a rifleman.  

4.  Since the Board concludes the applicant was an infantryman, assigned to an infantry unit, performing infantry duties while actively involved in ground combat, the applicant meets the criteria for award of the CIB.  The CIB should be entered in block 31 of his WD AGO Form 53-55.  The applicant does not state what “ASTP” stands for and the Board cannot determine what the acronym stands for. Therefore, it would not be appropriate to make that entry in block 31.

5.  The applicant also met the criteria for the conversion of his CIB to the Bronze Star Medal.  The Bronze Star Medal should be added to his WD AGO Form     53-55 in block 33.

6.  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:
     a.  amending the entry on the applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55, block 30 to read “Rifleman 745;”

     b.  awarding the applicant the Combat Infantryman Badge and by amending the entry on his WD AGO Form 53-55, block 31 to read Combat Infantryman Badge; and

     c.  awarding the applicant the Bronze Star Medal and by adding the Bronze Star Medal to block 33 of his WD AGO Form 53-55.

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

BOARD VOTE:  

__sac___  __amc___  __klw___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

			Samuel A. Crumpler
		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000041176	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20000720	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	100.00	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.