PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:       

	BOARD DATE:           18 October 2001
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2001057820

	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	
	Ms. Rosa M. Chandler		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Fred N. Eichorn		Chairperson	
	Mr. Melvin H. Meyer		Member	
	Ms. Barbara J. Ellis		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 correction of his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation-Honorable Discharge) to show award of the Bronze Star Medal (BSM), the Purple Heart (PH), and the Prisoner of War Medal (POW).

3.  The applicant states in effect that he has earned the BSM, the PH, and the POW medal and that it is only right that his records are corrected to show these awards.  He submits certificates awarding him both the BSM and the PH in support of his request.

4.  The applicant's military records are presumed lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973.  Information herein was obtained from a reconstructed record.

5.  The available records show that the applicant was inducted into the Army of the United States on 24 January 1944.  He completed training and was awarded military occupational specialty (MOS) 604, Light Machine Gunner.  

6.  Between 14 August 1944 and 6 June 1945, he was assigned to the European Theater of Operation where he participated in the Ardennes, Northern France, Rhineland, and Central Europe campaigns. 

7.  From available records, it appears that the applicant was a POW from the time that he was reported missing in action on 16 December 1944 until Allied Forces liberated him on 3 May 1945.  A WD AGO Form 38 (Report of Physical Examination of Enlisted Personnel Prior to Discharge, Release from Active Duty or Retirement) shows that he received a shrapnel wound to the scalp on 16 December 1944.  In January 1945, while he was a POW in a German prisoner of war camp, he was hospitalized for 1 week and treated for frozen feet.

8.  On 9 November 1945, he was honorably discharged.  His WD AGO Form 
53-55 shows he was awarded the Good Conduct Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern (EAME) Campaign Medal with four bronze service stars, the World War II Victory Medal, the Distinguished Unit Citation and the Combat Infantryman Badge.

9.  On 7 July 1988, the Army Reserve Personnel Center (ARPERCEN), St. Louis, 
Missouri, issued the applicant the BSM and, on 13 August 1989, he was issued the PH.  There is no evidence that he was ever issued the POW Medal.

10.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is awarded for heroism and for meritorious achievement or service in military operations against an armed enemy.  The Bronze Star Medal is authorized for each individual who was cited in orders or awarded a certificate for exemplary conduct in ground combat between 7 December 1941 and 2 September 1945 or whose achievement or service during that period was confirmed by documents executed prior to 1 July 1947.  An award of the Combat Infantryman Badge or the Combat Medical Badge is considered to be a citation in orders.  This means, in effect, that the Bronze Star Medal is to be awarded to individuals who were authorized either badge for service during World War II.

11.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the PH is awarded for a wound sustained as a result of hostile action.  Substantiating evidence must be provided to verify that the wound was the result of hostile action, the wound must have required treatment, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record. 

12.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, for award of the POW Medal.  The regulation states that the POW Medal was authorized on 8 November 1985 and is awarded to individuals who are taken prisoner or held captive.  The medal is awarded retroactively for past conflicts.  

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The ARPERCEN has previously awarded the applicant the BSM and the PH.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 should be corrected to reflect those awards.

2.  The applicant was captured by German Army forces on/about 16 December 1944.  He was liberated from a German POW camp by Allied Forces on 3 May 1945.  He is, therefore, entitled to the POW Medal. 

3.  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 issuing to the individual concerned a DD Form 215 (Correction to DD Form 214) to correct his WD AGO Form 53-55 to show that he was awarded the BSM, PH, and POW Medal.

BOARD VOTE:  

__FNE__  __MHM__  _BJE___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		       _Fred N. Eichorn_
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2001057820	
SUFFIX		
RECON	 	
DATE BOARDED	20011018	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	19451109	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR615-365  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT FULL)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY	DASA	
ISSUES         1.	A92.03 	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.