PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:     

	BOARD DATE:           1 March 2001                 
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000047665

	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	
	Mr. W. E. Schnupp		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. John H. Kern		Chairperson	
	Mr. Curtis L. Greenway		Member	
	Mr. Richard T. Dunbar		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 his discharge be corrected to show that he was assigned to the 53rd Armored Infantry, 4th Armored Division.

3.  The applicant states that he was assigned to the 4th Armored Division not the 19th Tank Battalion during the majority of his time in the service and he would like to have the 53rd Armored Infantry, 4th Armored Division reflected on his discharge.

4.  In support of his request, he submits numerous orders showing awards and decorations he received which reflect his unit as the 53rd Armored Infantry Battalion, 4th Armored Division.

5.  The applicant’s military records show that he was inducted on 17 January 1942 and served in the European Theater of Operations from December 1943 to October 1945.  He was honorably discharged at demobilization on 16 October 1945 in the grade of technician 3rd grade.

6.  His WD AGO Form 53-55, Enlisted Record and Report of Separation, shows the following awards: the Bronze Star Medal (BSM), the Distinguished Unit Badge, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, the Purple Heart, the Combat Medical Badge and the World War II Honorable Service Lapel Button.  On 8 November 2000 he was issued the following additional awards, to which he was entitled: the American Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the Army of Occupation Medal (Germany), the French Fourragere and the Belgium Fourragere.

7.  Copies of orders provided by the applicant show that he was a member of the 53rd Armored Infantry Battalion, 4th Armored Division at the time he received such awards as the Bronze Star and the Combat Medical Badge.

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22, Military Awards, provides that subsequent to the cessation of hostilities during World War II, the regulation governing the award of the BSM was changed, in part, to provide for the award of this decoration to those individuals who had been awarded the Combat Medical Badge for meritorious achievement in ground combat against the armed enemy between 7 December 1941 and 2 September 1945.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence of record clearly shows that the applicant was assigned to the 53rd Armored Infantry Battalion, 4th Armored Division during a good portion of his service in Europe during World War II and is entitled to have this unit shown on his separation document.

2.  Additionally, since he received the Combat Medical Badge during his World War II service, he is entitled to the 1st Oak Leaf Cluster to his BSM under the revised criterion for the BSM noted above.

3.  Also, while it appears he has been issued all of the awards to which he is entitled there is no evidence in the record that his separation document has ever been corrected to reflect all of his awards.

4.  In view of the foregoing, the applicant’s records should be corrected as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by:

	a.  showing that the organization of the individual concerned during World War II was the 53rd Armored Infantry Battalion, 4th Armored Division; and 

	b.  correcting his separation document to show all of the awards to which he is entitled, namely the BSM with 1st Oak Leaf Cluster (based on award of the Combat Medical Badge), the Distinguished Unit Citation, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, the Purple Heart, the Combat Medical Badge, World War II Honorable Service Lapel Button, the American Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal , the Army of Occupation Medal (Germany), the French Fourragere and the Belgium Fourragere.

BOARD VOTE:  

___jhk __  ___clg___  ___rtd __  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		___________John H. Kern_______
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000047665	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20010301	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT PLUS)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  100.00		
2.   107.00		
3.   110.00		
4.		
5.		
6.