PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:      

	BOARD DATE:           3 April 2001                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000050036

	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. Edmund P. Mercanti		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Walter T. Morrison		Chairperson	
	Mr. John T. Meixell		Member	
	Mr. Thomas F. Baxter		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 WD AGO Form 53-55, Enlisted Record and Report of Separation, Honorable Discharge, be changed from showing that he was assigned to the 48th Evacuation Hospital to show he was assigned to the 25th Field Hospital.

3.  The applicant states that he served with the 25th Field Hospital from 8 December 1942 to 10 August 1945.  He was only with the 48th Evacuation Hospital for 8 hours when he was taken off a train and flown home by the Red Cross.

4.  The applicant’s military records could not be located and are presumed to have been destroyed in the fire at the records repository at St. Louis, Missouri, in 1973.  However, the Board has been provided a copy of the applicant’s separation documents and his health records.

5.  The applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 shows that he was inducted on 18 August 1942, was awarded the military occupational specialty of surgical technician, served in the Burma, Central Burma and India-Burma campaigns, and was honorably released from active duty on 20 October 1945 due to demobilization of the Army.  This document shows that the applicant was assigned to the 48th Evacuation Hospital.

6.  The applicant’s medical records show that he was assigned to the 25th Field Hospital for the majority of his service.

7.  Technical Manual 12-235, Discharge Procedures and Preparation of Separation Forms, in effect at the time, provides in paragraph 24, that item 6 of the WD AGO Form 53-55, Organization, be completed as follows:  “Enter the last unit, or similar element to which he was assigned, rather than the element of which he was a part while moving to a separation activity.   Assignments to units for purpose of transfer from a theater to the United States are considered part of the movement to a separation activity.”

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  It is evident that the applicant was assigned to the 25th Field Hospital during WWII, and was only assigned to the 48th Evacuation Hospital for the purpose of transfer back to the United States.  As such, the 25th Field Hospital should be listed in item 6, Organization, of the WD AGO Form 53-55.

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

RECOMMENDATION:

That item 6, of WD AGO Form 53-55 for the individual concerned be corrected by showing his organization as the 25th Field Hospital.

BOARD VOTE:  

___wtm _  ___jtm __  ___tfb___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		__________Walter T. Morrison_____
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000050036	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20010403	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	110.00	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.