PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:     

	BOARD DATE:           21 MAY 2002                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2002071322

	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. Kenneth H. Aucock		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. Jennifer L. Prater		Chairperson	
	Ms. Barbara J. Ellis		Member	
	Mr. Thomas Lanyi		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 reconsideration of his previous applications to correct his military records by awarding him the Purple Heart and the Presidential Unit Citation.

3.  The applicant made no statement.  His application apparently consists of documents he forwarded showing a copy of a page from a previous Board’s decision, a copy of his Enlisted Record and Report of Separation, a copy of a   DD Form 215 correcting that record, a copy of a certificate awarding the Presidential Unit Citation to the 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion, a copy of a roster, apparently prepared by the 551st Parachute Infantry Association, showing that the applicant had been wounded while assigned to the 551st, and a copy of a notification of an awards ceremony in the Pentagon, which was to have taken place on 23 February 2001.  All of these documents were available to the Board in its previous considerations of his case.      

4.  The Memorandum of Consideration (MOC) of the Board’s 24 May 2000 review of the case (AR1999032426) and the Board’s 19 June 2001 review of the case (AR2001053865) are incorporated herein by reference as if wholly set forth.

5.  On 21 November 2001, in a letter to a retired colonel who had intervened on behalf of the applicant, this agency informed that officer that there was no indication that he was representing the applicant in an official capacity, and consequently his request was returned without action (AR2001061014).  In his letter to this agency, however, the retired colonel stated that he had served with the applicant while both were members of the 551st and that the applicant was assigned to that unit when it was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for its actions.

6.  The applicant provides no new evidence not previously available to the Board.  However, an analyst of this agency has provided evidence concerning the applicant’s entitlement to the Presidential Unit Citation.

7.  Paragraph 1 and 2 of the CONCLUSIONS in the 19 June 2001 Board decision, which denied the applicant’s request for award of the Presidential Unit Citation, indicates that there was no evidence that the applicant was assigned to the 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion after 16 August 1944, and that available evidence shows that he was assigned to the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment during the time frame the 551st was credited for extraordinary heroism between 27 December 1944 and 7 January 1945.  That decision also indicates that the applicant participated in the Rome-Arno and the Southern France campaigns while assigned to the 551st (both campaigns ended in September 1944), and the Ardennes-Alsace, Rhineland, and Central Europe campaigns while assigned to the 504th.      

8.  The Board notes that the 551st also participated in the Ardennes-Alsace and Rhineland campaigns, as indicated in DA Pamphlet 672-1, Unit Citation and Campaign Participation Credit Register.  The dates of the Ardennes-Alsace Campaign are from 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945. 

9.  The narrative citation awarding the 551st the Presidential Unit Citation indicates that subsequent to the termination of the unit’s actions on 8 January 1945 it was disbanded a month later.  A U.S. Army 20 February 2001 news release regarding the ceremony to award the 551st the Presidential Unit Citation shows that the unit was deactivated on 10 February 1945 with its soldiers reassigned to integral units of the 82nd Airborne Division.  

10.  On 13 November 2001 an analyst of this agency reviewed the files of the 551st located at the Center for Military History.  The unit’s morning reports show that the applicant went from a duty status to a sick (non-battle casualty) status on 31 December 1944 and returned to duty on 10 January 1945.  A morning report entry shows that the applicant was reassigned to the 504th on 1 February 1945.

11.  In a 10 April 2002 correspondence, that same analyst stated that he reviewed the historical files of the 551st, and those files failed to show that the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant’s submission of documents previously available to this Board does not substantiate that he was wounded in action.  There is insufficient evidence to show that he is entitled to award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The evidence clearly shows that the applicant was a member of the 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion in 1944 and 1945, and immediately prior to being in a sick status on 31 December 1944.  It is highly probable that he participated in some of the actions that resulted in the award of the Presidential Unit Citation to the 551st.  He only transferred to the 504th on 1 February 1945, prior to the deactivation of the 551st.  Consequently, in all fairness and in the interest of justice, the applicant is entitled to award of the Presidential Unit Citation.  

3.  In view of the foregoing findings and conclusions, correcting the applicant’s records as recommended below would rectify an injustice.

RECOMMENDATION:

1.  That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by showing that the individual concerned was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for his participation in the actions of the 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion.
2.  That so much of the application as is in excess of the foregoing be denied.

BOARD VOTE:

__JLP  __  __BJE __  __TL____  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		___ Jennifer L. Prater___
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2002071322	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20020521	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.00	
2.	46	
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.