PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:            28 September 2000 
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000042510

	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. Wanda L. Waller		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 correction of his discharge document to show award of the Bronze Star Medal (based on award of the Combat Infantryman Badge) and the Army of Occupation Medal with Germany Clasp.  He also requests that a Certificate of Merit be converted to award of the Silver Star.   

3.  The applicant states that the two medals are not included on his original WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation).  He also contends that his Certificate of Merit was sent to his parents house and was subsequently destroyed in a fire.  He goes on to state that after the war he was told that he received this Certificate of Merit instead of a Silver Star Medal that his battalion commander ordered for him after a German SS counter attack on 16 April 1945.
In support of his application, he submits a copy of his WD AGO Form 53-55; WD AGO Form 100 (Separation Qualification Record); DA Form 1577 (Authorization for Issuance of Awards) dated 5 May 2000; an excerpt from an unidentified combat chronicle; and a 15 May 2000 letter from the Veterans Service Center in Kettering, Ohio. 

4.  The applicant’s military records show that he was inducted on 7 August 1944. He served as a squad leader in the European Theater of Operations from 
25 February 1945 through 5 July 1945 and was honorably discharged on 21 April 1946.  The applicant was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge during World War II.   
 
5.  The applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 does not show the Bronze Star Medal (based on award of the Combat Infantryman Badge) or the Army of Occupation Medal with Germany Clasp as authorized awards. 

6.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 does show a Certificate of Merit as an authorized award. 

7.  DA Form 1577 (Authorization for Issuance of Awards), dated 5 May 2000, shows the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri, determined that the applicant was entitled to the Bronze Star Medal (based on award of the Combat Infantryman Badge) and the Army of Occupation Medal with Germany Clasp.  

8.  Paragraph 1-23 (Conversion of Awards) of Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides that awards of certain decorations as authorized in this regulation or later will be made on the basis of existing letters, citations, and/or orders.  The decorations which may be awarded under this provision are:  the Purple Heart and the Silver Star to qualifying service members who served during World War I; the Bronze Star Medal to individual members of the Armed Forces who were cited in orders or awarded a certificate for exemplary conduct in ground combat against an armed enemy between 7 December 1941 and 2 September 1945 or whose meritorious achievement was confirmed by documents executed prior to 1 July 1947; and the Army Commendation Medal to any individual commended after 6 December 1941 and before 1 January 1946 in a letter, certificate, or order of commendation signed by an officer in the grade or position a major general or higher. 

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Evidence of record shows the applicant was awarded the Bronze Star Medal (based on award of the Combat Infantryman Badge) and the Army of Occupation Medal with Germany Clasp.  Therefore, the applicant is entitled to correction of his discharge document to show these awards. 

2.  The applicant’s request that a Certificate of Merit be converted to award of the Silver Star was noted by the Board.  However, in accordance with the governing regulation, the Silver Star may only be converted to qualifying service members who served during World War I.  Therefore, there is no basis to convert the applicant’s Certificate of Merit to an award of the Silver Star.  

3.  In view of the foregoing findings and conclusions, it would be appropriate to correct the applicant’s records, but only as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

1.  That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by showing that the individual concerned was awarded the Bronze Star Medal (based on award of the Combat Infantryman Badge) and the Army of Occupation Medal with Germany Clasp.

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	AR2000042510	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20000928	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	19460421	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR 615-362  	
DISCHARGE REASON	Dependency	
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.0014	
2.	107.0067	
3.	107.0007	
4.		
5.		
6.