PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           28 September 2000                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000044687

	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 that his records be corrected to show he was in the 133d Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division and that he be awarded the Army of Occupation Medal and the Bronze Star Medal (BSM).  

3.  The applicant states that he just discovered that his Enlisted Record and Report of Separation, WD AGO Form 53-55, shows he was in the 45th Infantry Division.  He was in the 133d Infantry Regiment which was in the 34th Infantry Division.  He was never in any other regiment or division.  He believes the error occurred because he was in the 45th General Hospital at the time he was awarded his second Purple Heart.  In August, September, October and half of November 1945, his battalion occupied what was then called Pola at the bottom of the Istrian Peninsula.  In September 1945, he had been selected to go to the American University in Florence, Italy, so he did not go home with the 34th Division.  He assumes all of the 34th got an occupation medal but not him.  He believes he is also entitled to the BSM based on his Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB).

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 into the Army on 24 June 1943 and entered active duty on 8 July 1943.  He arrived in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) on 11 May 1944.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he participated in the Rome-Arno, North Appennines, and Po Valley campaigns.  He departed the ETO on     16 November 1945 and separated on 2 December 1945.

6.  The applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 shows the applicant was an infantryman, held the military occupational specialty of rifleman, and was awarded the CIB.  Item 6 shows his organization as Company G, 133d Infantry Regiment.  Item 33 shows he was awarded the Purple Heart with oak leaf cluster on “GO # 146 21 Dec 44, 45th Inf.”

7. Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, 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.

8.  Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-1 does not give occupation credit to either the 133d Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division or to the 34th Infantry Division for any country.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant is entitled to the BSM based upon his award of the CIB.

2.  The applicant is not entitled to the Army of Occupation Medal for either Italy or Austria or any other country.  Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-1 shows that neither the 133d Infantry Regiment nor the 34th Infantry Division were given occupation credit.

3.  The Board concludes that there is no error on the applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 concerning his unit of assignment.  Item 6 shows his organization as Company G, 133d Infantry Regiment, the unit he states he was assigned to.  The entry in item 33 that the applicant contends is incorrect only shows the headquarters that issued the orders that awarded him the Purple Heart with oak leaf cluster.  Since the orders are not available, the Board cannot determine if the 45th Infantry did or did not issue them.  In the absence of evidence to the contrary, the Board presumes the entry is correct.

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 amended to add the Bronze Star Medal.

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 P. O’Connor, Jr.
		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000044687	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20000928	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	100.00	
2.	107.0014	
3.	100.0067	
4.		
5.		
6.