PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           3 April 2001                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000044528

	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. Walter T. Morrison		Chairperson	
	Mr. Thomas F. Baxter		Member	
	Mr. John T. Meixell		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 add the Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart.  (The applicant died after submitting the request.  His widow requested that his application still be processed.)

3.  The applicant states that he received shrapnel wounds while in Europe.  

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.  The applicant was inducted and entered active duty on 8 April 1944.  He arrived in the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater of Operations on             1 October 1944.  He departed on 22 February 1945 and separated on 14 June 1945.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows that his military occupational specialty (MOS) was 604 (Light Machine Gunner).  Item 31 does not list the Combat Infantryman Badge.  Item 34 does not list any wounds received in action.  Item 40 shows he received a certificate of disability.  

6.  An Authorization for Issuance of Awards, DA Form 1577, dated 27 February 1989, shows the applicant was authorized the Bronze Star Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the Presidential Unit Emblem (now known as the Presidential Unit Citation), the World War II Victory Medal, the Army of Occupation Medal with Germany clasp, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Sharpshooter Badge with Gunner clasp, and the Marksman Badge with Rifle bar in addition to the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 1 bronze service star and the Honorable Service Lapel Button World War II already shown on his WD ADGO Form 53-55.

7.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides policy and criteria concerning individual military decorations.  In pertinent part, it states that the Purple Heart is awarded to any member of an Armed Force who has been wounded or killed in any action against an enemy of the United States.  The wound must have required treatment by a medical officer and records of medical treatment for wounds or injuries received in action must have been made a matter of official record. 

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 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 who actively participates in such ground combat.  The 

Awards Branch, Total Army Personnel command, has advised that the Combat 
Infantryman Badge was normally awarded to enlisted individuals who served      as a light machine gunner, MOS 604.  It also provides for the award of the BSM 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.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  There is no evidence of record available to verify that the applicant was wounded in action.  Although his WD AGO Form 53-55 shows that he received a certificate of disability, the disability need not have been incurred as a result of enemy action.  Entitlement to award of the Purple Heart cannot be verified.

2.  The evidence of record shows that the applicant held the MOS of light machine gunner.  The Board presumes he also served as a light machine gunner and so was entitled to award of the Combat Infantryman Badge and to award of the Bronze Star Medal based on the award of the Combat Infantryman Badge as listed on the DA Form 1577.

3.  The applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 should also list the Army Good Conduct Medal, the Presidential Unit Citation, the World War II Victory Medal, the Army of Occupation Medal with Germany clasp, the Sharpshooter Badge with Gunner clasp, and the Marksman Badge with Rifle bar.

4.  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 corrected to add the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Bronze Star Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the Presidential Unit Citation, the World War II Victory Medal, the Army of Occupation Medal with Germany clasp, the Sharpshooter Badge with Gunner clasp, and the Marksman Badge with Rifle bar.

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

BOARD VOTE:  

__wtm___  __tfb___  __jtm___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

			Walter T. Morrison
		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000044528	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20010403	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.0015	
2.	110.04	
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.