PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           31 October 2002
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2002073345

	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. Nancy L. Amos		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Curtis L. Greenway		Chairperson	
	Ms. Regan K. Smith		Member	
	Mr. Donald P. Hupman, Jr.		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 Enlisted Record and Report of Separation, WD AGO Form 53-55, be amended to show he was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB), the Bronze Star Medal (BSM), and any other awards to which he is entitled; that it be amended to show he was wounded in the Philippines; and that it be amended to show he attended radio school.

3.  The applicant states he was wounded in the Philippines and completed radio school at Biak, Schouten Island.  Supporting evidence is as listed on the DD Form 149. 

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

5.  The applicant was inducted into and entered the Army on 24 February 1941.  He arrived in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations on 10 April 1942.  

6.  Office of the Surgeon General Hospital Admission Cards show the applicant was a battle casualty and hospitalized on 12 March 1945 for artillery shell fragment wounds to his leg.  General Orders 8, Headquarters, 16th Infantry dated 16 April 1945 awarded him the Purple Heart for wounds received on        11 March 1945 on Mindanao, the Philippines.

7.  The applicant departed the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations on 1 July 1945.  A Final Payment Roll, WD Form 371, shows he was due foreign service pay from 1 July to 5 July 1945, to include combat infantry pay.  His final payment worksheet is not available and it cannot be determined how much combat infantry pay he was due.  He separated on 28 August 1945.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows his military occupational specialty (MOS) as Low Speed Radio Operator; his battles and campaigns as Southern Philippines and New Guinea; his decorations as the American Defense Service Medal and the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal; no wounds received; and no service schools attended.

8.  War Department Circular Number 408, Expert and Combat Infantryman Badges, Award, and Additional Pay, dated 17 October 1944 cited Public Law 393, 78th Congress, approved 30 June 1944 which provided that during the war and for 6 months thereafter any enlisted man of the combat ground forces of the Army who was entitled to wear the Expert Infantryman Badge or the CIB would be paid additional compensation at the rate of $5 per month when he was entitled to wear the Expert Infantryman Badge and at the rate of $10 per month when he was entitled to wear the CIB. 

9.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 prescribes Army policy and criteria concerning individual military awards.  In pertinent part, it states that the CIB was established during World War II to provide special recognition of the unique role of the Army infantryman, the only soldier whose daily mission is to close with and destroy the enemy and to seize and hold terrain.  The badge was intended as an inducement for individuals to join the infantry while serving as a morale booster for infantrymen.  In developing the CIB, the War Department did not dismiss or ignore the contributions of other branches.  Their vital contributions to the overall war effort were noted, but it was decided that other awards and decorations were sufficient to recognize their contributions.  From the beginning, Army leadership have taken care to retain the badge for the unique purpose for which it was established.  There are basically three requirements for award of the CIB.  The soldier must be an infantryman satisfactorily performing infantry duties, must be assigned to an infantry unit during such time as the unit is engaged in active ground combat, and must actively participate in such ground combat.  

10.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides for the award of the BSM to any person who distinguished himself or herself by heroic or meritorious achievement or service, not involving participation in aerial flight, in connection with military operations against an armed enemy.  It also provides for 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.  A citation in orders for the Combat Infantryman Badge or Medical Badge awarded in the field during the period of actual combat against the armed enemy is considered as a citation for exemplary conduct in ground combat.  

11.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides for the award of the World War II Victory Medal for service between 7 December 1941 and 31 December 1946.  It provides for the award of the Philippine Liberation Ribbon for service in the liberation of the Philippines from 17 October 1944 to 3 September 1945.  It provides for the wear of one bronze service star on the appropriate service medal for each credited campaign.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence of record shows the applicant was wounded in action and was awarded the Purple Heart.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 should be amended to reflect these facts.

2.  While there is evidence of record to show the applicant was eligible for combat infantry pay, it cannot be determined how much combat infantry pay he was authorized.  Therefore, it cannot be determined if he was authorized the pay because he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge or the Expert Infantryman Badge.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows his MOS was Low Speed Radio Operator, not one of the infantry MOSs.  There is insufficient evidence to verify he was eligible for award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.
3.  Since there is insufficient evidence to verify the applicant was eligible for award of the Combat Infantryman Badge, and there is no evidence to show he was otherwise awarded the Bronze Star Medal, there is insufficient evidence to show he met the eligibility criteria for award of the Bronze Star Medal.

4.  The applicant met the eligibility criteria for award of the World War II Victory Medal and the Philippine Liberation Ribbon and for the wear of two bronze service stars on the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal.

5.  The applicant's records are not available and he provides no evidence to show he attended a radio school or any other service schools.

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

RECOMMENDATION:

1.  That the applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55, item 33 be amended to show he was awarded the Purple Heart, the World War II Victory Medal, and the Philippine Liberation Ribbon and to show he is authorized to wear two bronze service stars on the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal.

2.  That the applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55, item 34 be amended to show he was wounded in action on 11 March 1945 on Mindanao, the Philippines.

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

BOARD VOTE:  

__CLG_  __RKS___  ___DPH__  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		___Curtis L. Greenway   _
		       CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2002073345	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	2002/10/31	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	PARTIAL RELIEF	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	110.04	
2.	107.0111	
3.	107.0014	
4.	100.07	
5.		
6.