PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:      

	BOARD DATE:           7 August 2001                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2001055643

	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:

	Ms. Margaret K. Patterson		Chairperson	
	Mr. Thomas B. Redfern		Member	
	Ms. Regan K. Smith		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, a veteran service representative submitting a request in behalf to the former service member’s (FSM’s) next of kin, requests that the FSM be awarded the Prisoner of War (POW) medal.

3.  The applicant states that the FSM was captured by the enemy and died while a POW.  The FSM was listed as missing in action (MIA), but subsequent eyewitness accounts established that he was captured by the Chinese.

4.  The FSM’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.  The following information was derived from documents submitted by the applicant himself.

5.  The FSM was an infantry sergeant serving in Korea during the Korean War.  He was reported as missing in action on 24 April 1951 and was presumed dead on 16 March 1954.

6.  In a letter from the (then) Reserve Components Personnel and Administration Center (RCPAC) dated 21 March 1973, to a member of Congress, the RCPAC stated that the FSM was reported as MIA after he was last seen in a defensive position during a heavy enemy attack.  The FSM’s company was overrun by enemy forces and forced to withdraw to new positions.  When the company was reorganized after the withdrawal, the FSM could not be located.  The RCPAC continued that when the Korean War POW’s were released, the POW’s that served with the FSM were questioned and one soldier stated that he knew that the FSM had been captured by the enemy, but had been separated from him in the POW camp and never saw or heard from him again.

7.  In the statement made by the former POW, he said that the FSM had passed out on the road to the mining camp.  He had dysentery at the time.  The former POW never heard or saw the FSM again.  The former POW stated that he didn’t know whether the FSM was dead or alive.

8.  The POW Medal was authorized on 8 November 1985 and is awarded to individuals who in past armed conflicts were taken prisoner or held captive.  Past conflict in this  instance means only World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.  Hostages of terrorists and persons held by governments with which the United States is not engaged in armed conflict are not eligible.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The statement made by the former POW who served with the FSM makes it clear that the FSM was, indeed, a POW prior to his presumption of death.  As such, it would be appropriate to award him the POW Medal.
2.  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 awarding to the individual concerned the POW Medal.

BOARD VOTE:  

__mkp___  ___tbr___  ____rks_  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		_________Margaret K. Patterson__
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2001055643	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20010807	
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.	107.00	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.