PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           5 April 2001                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000050346

	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:

	Ms. June Hajjar		Chairperson	
	Ms. Celia L. Adolphi		Member	
	Mr. Harry B. Oberg		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 the Combat Medical Badge (CMB) and the Bronze Star Medal (BSM) be added to his Enlisted Record and Report of Separation, WD AGO Form 53-55.

3.  The applicant states that the CMB and the BSM are missing from his records.

4.  The applicant’s military records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire in 1973.  The information contained herein was obtained from alternate sources.

5.  The applicant was inducted into the Army on 20 May 1943 and entered active service on 27 May 1943.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows that he arrived in the European Theater of Operations on 7 September 1944 and departed on             22 December 1945.  He separated on 10 January 1946.  His organization was the Medical Detachment, 328th Infantry Regiment.  Item 31 shows he was awarded the (Combat) Medical Badge.  Item 4 shows his arm of service as Medical Department.  Item 30 shows his military occupational specialty (MOS) as Dental Technician.  His Final Payment Work Sheet shows that he was authorized Medical Badge Pay.

6.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides that the Combat Medical Badge could be awarded to Medical Department personnel assigned or attached to infantry units of brigade or smaller size who satisfactorily perform medical duties while the unit is engaged in actual ground combat, provided they are personally present and under fire.  The award was established to recognize medical aidmen who shared the same hazards and hardships of ground combat on a daily basis with the infantry soldier.  It 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.  For this purpose, an award of the Combat Infantryman Badge or Combat Medical Badge is considered as a citation in orders.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Although the applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 shows his MOS as Dental Technician, it also shows that he was a member of the Medical Department assigned to the medical detachment of an infantry regiment.  Since his Final Payment Work Sheet shows he received Medical Badge Pay and his WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he was awarded the (Combat) Medical Badge, the Board presumes that he served as a field medic rather than as a dental technician.  Therefore, the applicant is authorized award of the Bronze Star Medal based upon his award of the Combat Medical Badge.

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

RECOMMENDATION:

1.  That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by showing the applicant was awarded the Bronze Star Medal.

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

BOARD VOTE:  

__jh____  __cla___  __hbo___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

			June Hajjar
		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000050346	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20010405	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.0014	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.