PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           2 November 2000                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000047264

	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. Fred N. Eichorn		Chairperson	
	Mr. Ted S. Kanamine		Member	
	Mr. William D. Barr		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 show he arrived in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO) on 20 October 1945 and to add the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) and the Bronze Star Medal (BSM).

3.  The applicant states that he arrived in Italy on 20 October 1945 and was immediately transported to a town in the northeastern part of Italy.  He was assigned to the 2d Battalion, 350th Infantry Regiment as an armorer/artificer.  His duty was to maintain and repair weapons and supply ammunition to the outposts along the Italian/Yugoslavian borders.  Those outposts were periodically subject to unknown hostile fire.  His vehicle came under fire while enroute to supply the outposts.  Their first sergeant advised them that they would be eligible for the CIB since they were subject to hostile, unknown fire.  

4.  The applicant’s military records are not available.  The information contained herein was obtained from reconstructed records.

5.  The applicant enlisted in the Army on 29 September 1944 and entered active service on 26 April 1945.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows that he departed the continental United States on 11 October 1945 and arrived in the MTO on          20 October 1946.  (This is most certainly a typographical error as the applicant was awarded the Army Good Conduct Medal by the 350th Infantry, APO 88 on orders dated 17 May 1946.  APO 88 was located in Europe at the time.)  His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he departed the MTO on 31 October 1946 and arrived in the continental United States on 11 November 1946.  He was separated on      26 December 1946.   

6.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 prescribes Army policy and criteria concerning individual military awards.  In pertinent part, it states that the CIB was established during World War II to provide special recognition of the unique role of the Army infantryman, the only soldier whose daily mission is to close with and destroy the enemy and to seize and hold terrain.  The badge was intended as an inducement for individuals to join the infantry while serving as a morale booster for infantrymen.  In developing the CIB, the War Department did not dismiss or ignore the contributions of other branches.  Their vital contributions to the overall war effort were noted, but it was decided that other awards and decorations were sufficient to recognize their contributions.  From the beginning, Army leadership have taken care to retain the badge for the unique purpose for which it was established.  There are basically three requirements for award of the CIB.  The 
soldier must be an infantryman satisfactorily performing infantry duties, must be 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.  

7.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 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.  Corroborating evidence shows that there is a typographical error on the applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 in item 36 and that he almost certainly arrived in the MTO on 20 October 1945, not 20 October 1946.  

2.  The evidence of record shows that the applicant is not entitled to award of the CIB.  While the Board does not dismiss the dangers the applicant was subjected to during his supply runs, he was not an infantryman whose daily mission was to close with and destroy the enemy.  In addition, the war being over, neither he nor his unit was engaged in active ground combat.  Because the applicant is not entitled to award of the CIB, he is not entitled to award of the BSM.

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, item 36 be corrected to show he arrived in the MTO on 20 October 1945.

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

BOARD VOTE:  

__fne___  __tsk___  __wdb___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

			Fred N. Eichorn
		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000047264	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20001102	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.0014	
2.	107.0111	
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.