PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:            11 January 2001
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000048369

	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. Hubert S. Shaw, Jr.		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Ernest M. Willcher		Chairperson	
	Ms. Ann M. Campbell		Member	
	Mr. Donald P. Hupman		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, in effect, that his unit of assignment be corrected on his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation). 

3.  The applicant states that he never served a day with the 18th Armored Infantry.  He states that he served during World War II with Headquarters Company, 3d Battalion, 16th Infantry, which was a unit of the 1st Infantry Division.

4. The applicant’s military records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973.  Records available to the Board were obtained from alternate sources and show that he was inducted on 2 February 1942 and completed training as an infantryman.  He served in the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater of Operations from 7 August 1942 to 10 August 1945.  The applicant was honorably discharged on 16 August 1945. 

5.  The applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 shows in item 6 (Organization) that he was assigned to Company A 18th Armored Infantry Battalion at the time of his separation.

6.  Medical records and orders in the applicant’s reconstituted records show that he served in the 3d Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, of the 1st Infantry Division during his combat service in World War II.

7.  Technical Manual 12-235, which prescribed the policy and procedure for the preparation and distribution of separation documents during the period in question, states that the last unit, or similar element to which the individual was assigned, rather than the element of which he was part while moving to a separation activity will be entered in item 6 (Organization) of the WD AGO Form 53-55.  It also notes that assignments to units for the purpose of transfer from a theater to the United States is considered part of the movement to a separation activity.  

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The Board reviewed the applicant’s contention that he served throughout World War II as a member of 3d Battalion, 16th Infantry, of the 1st Infantry Division.  Medical records and orders for awards show the applicant was a member of the 3d Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, during his service in the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater of Operations.

2.  Based on the foregoing, the Board concluded that the current entry in item 6 of his WD AGO Form 53-55 listed the unit from which the applicant was separated, not the unit with which the applicant served in the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater of Operations during World War II. 
3.  Based on the foregoing, the Board has determined the applicant is entitled to correction of item 6 of his WD AGO Form 53-55 to show that he served in the 3d Battalion 16th Infantry Regiment, of the 1st Infantry Division during World War II.

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 showing in item 6 of his WD AGO Form 53-55 that the individual concerned served in the 3d Battalion ,16th Infantry Regiment, of the 1st Infantry Division during World War II.

BOARD VOTE:  

__EMW__  __AMC__  __DPH__  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		___Mr. Ernest M. Willcher__
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000048369	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	YYYYMMDD	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY	MR SCHNEIDER 	
ISSUES         1.	100.0000.0000	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.