PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:      

	BOARD DATE:           19 DECEMBER 2002                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2002074462

	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. Deborah L. Brantley		Senior Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Raymond V. O'Connor, Jr.		Chairperson	
	Mr. Stanley Kelley		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 that his military records be corrected to show that he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge.  He states, in a self-authored statement, that he was awarded the badge and provides photographs of him in his uniform.  He states that if his records are corrected to reflect award of the Combat Infantryman Badge, he will also be entitled to the Bronze Star Medal.  The applicant also notes that he was assigned to Company I, 3rd Battalion, 358th Infantry and not Battery C of the 204th Field Artillery Battalion, as his separation document indicates.

3.  The applicant's records were lost or destroyed during the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis.  Information contained herein was reconstructed from alternative sources, including information contained on the applicant's War Department Adjutant General Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation Honorable Discharge), which he provided.

4.  The applicant entered active duty in January 1943 and served overseas between May 1944 and November 1945.  Orders published in September 1944 by Headquarters, 358th Infantry awarded the applicant the Combat Infantryman Badge.  At the time of the award, the orders indicated that the applicant was assigned to Company I of the 358th Infantry.  Company I would have been part of the 3rd Battalion.  The Combat Infantryman Badge was, however, omitted from his separation document.  The applicant was discharged on 3 December 1945 at Fort Dix, New Jersey as a result of demobilization.  His "organization" on his separation document is recorded as Battery C, 204th Field Artillery Battalion.

5.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Bronze Star Medal is to be awarded to individuals who were authorized the Combat Infantryman Badge or the Combat Medical Badge for service during World War II.  Awards of the Bronze Star Medal based on either badge are commonly referred to as conversion awards.

6.  Technical Manual 12-235, which prescribed the policy and procedures for the preparation and distribution of separation documents during the period in question, states that the last unit, or similar element to which the individual was assigned, rather than the element of which he was a part while moving to a separation activity will be entered in item 6 (organization) of the War Department Adjutant General Form 53-55.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence confirms the applicant was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge.  His record should be corrected accordingly.  Based on his Combat Infantryman Badge, the applicant is entitled to a Bronze Star Medal as a conversion award.

2.  The absence of the applicant's military records makes it impossible to determine the applicant's units of assignment during his military service.  There is no evidence, which confirms whether the organization recorded on the applicant's separation document was erroneous, or not.  However, the orders confirming award of the Combat Infantryman Badge do confirm that the applicant was assigned to Company I, 3rd Battalion, 358th Infantry in 1944, at the time the badge was awarded.  The Board recognizes and understands the importance that units, which are of particular importance to our World War II veterans, be recorded in some form on historical records.  As such, the Board concludes that it would be appropriate, and in the interest of justice and equity, to enter in the remarks section of the applicant's separation document that he was assigned to Company I, 3rd Battalion, 358th Infantry while deployed overseas during World War II.  The recording of that information, although an exception to normal policies, would provide a historical record for the applicant and serve as confirmation that he was assigned to that organization at one point during his military service.

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:

a.  by showing that the individual concerned was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge;

b.  by awarding him a Bronze Star Medal as a conversion award based on his Combat Infantryman Badge; and

c.  by showing in the remarks section of the applicant's separation document that he was assigned to Company I, 3rd Battalion, 358th Infantry while deployed overseas during World War II.

BOARD VOTE:  

__RVO__  ___SK  __  ___HBO_  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		Raymond V. O'Connor, Jr.
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2002074462	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20021219	
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.