PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:      

	BOARD DATE:           9 October 2003                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2003086212

	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. G. E. Vandenberg		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Raymond V. O'Connor, Jr.		Chairperson	
	Mr. Robert J. Osborn II		Member	
	Ms. Eloise C. Prendergast 		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 discharge document be corrected to show award of the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that he wounded as shown on the citation for his Bronze Star Medal, but he never received his Purple Heart.

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

5.  He was assigned to Company K, 11th Infantry Regiment in Europe from 11 August 1944 through 22 December 1945.  He is listed as participating in the Ardennes, Central Europe, Northern France, and Rhineland campaigns.

6.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation) shows he was inducted on 15 June 1943 and served on active duty from 29 June 1943 through 8 January 1946.  It lists his decorations as the Bronze Star Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, the American Service Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, and the Sharpshooter Badge with Rifle and Machine Gun Bars.  Item 34 (Wounds) states “NONE”.

7.  He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for distinctive heroism for his actions on 24 December 1944.  The Bronze Star Medal Citation states that his machine gun position took a direct hit from enemy artillery, severely injuring all members of the crew.  It further states that despite being a casualty, he refused medical treatment and evacuation and moved his automatic weapon to a more advantageous position assisting materially in repulsing a determined enemy counterattack.

8.  His final pay worksheet shows that he was receiving combat infantryman pay.

9.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained while in action against an enemy or 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 by a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

10.  Army Regulation 600-8-22, paragraph 8-6 sets forth the Army policy and procedures for award of the CIB.  In effect, that paragraph states that there are three basic requirements for award of the CIB.  The enlisted soldier must have an 
infantry specialty, he must be satisfactorily performing infantry duties while assigned or attached to an infantry unit of brigade, regimental, or smaller size during any period such unit was engaged in active ground combat, and he must be personally present and under hostile fire while serving in that unit.

11.  World War II holders of the Combat Infantryman Badge received a monthly pay supplement known as combat infantry pay.  Therefore, soldiers had economic as well as intangible reasons to ensure that their records were correct. Thus, pay records are frequently the best, available source to verify entitlement to this award.

12.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 also provides, in pertinent part, that the Bronze Star Medal 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.

13.  Army Regulation 600-8-22, in pertinent part, authorizes award of a bronze service star, based on qualifying service, for each campaign listed in Appendix B of this regulation and states that authorized bronze service stars will be worn on the appropriate service medal.  The bronze oak leaf cluster is awarded to denote the second and succeeding awards of a certain decorations, among which is the Bronze Star Medal.

14.  The Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-1, Unit Citation and Campaign Participation Credit Register, dated 6 July 1961, shows, among other information, credit for occupation duty during World War II.  This document shows that while the applicant was assigned, his unit received credit for occupation duty in Germany.

15.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Army of Occupation Medal is awarded for service of thirty consecutive days at a normal post of duty in a qualifying location.  For Germany service must have been between 9 May 1945 and 5 May 1955 and the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal must have been awarded prior to 9 May 1945.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Notwithstanding the absence of medical records, the Board finds that his Bronze Star Medal Citation clearly shows that he received significant wounds as a result of enemy action on 24 December 1944.  Therefore, there is sufficient evidence to show that he was wounded in action and should be awarded the Purple Heart.

2.  The final pay worksheet shows that he was satisfactorily performing infantry duties while assigned as an infantryman in combat.  He should be awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge.

3.  Based on the award of the CIB, he is also entitled to a second award of the Bronze Star Medal.

4.  There is sufficient evidence to show that he is entitled to the Army Occupation Medal with Germany Clasp.

5.  The Board finds that the applicant’s records should be corrected to show his awards as: the Bronze Star Medal with one bronze oak leaf cluster, the Purple Heart, the Good Conduct Medal, the American Service Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with four bronze service stars, the Army Occupation Medal with Germany Clasp, the World War II Victory Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge, and the Sharpshooters Badge with Rifle and Machine Gun Bars.

6.  In view of the foregoing findings and conclusions, correcting the applicant’s records as recommended below would correct an error.

RECOMMENDATION:

That his records be corrected to show:

a.  that he received a combat related wounded on 24 December 1944; and,

b.  that his awards are the Bronze Star Medal with one bronze oak leaf cluster, the Purple Heart, the Good Conduct Medal, the American Service Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with four bronze service stars, the Army Occupation Medal with Germany Clasp, the World War II Victory Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge, and the Sharpshooters Badge with Rifle and Machine Gun Bars.

BOARD VOTE:  

___RVO_  __RJO___  __ELP__  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		_Raymond V. O'Connor, Jr.
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2003086212	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20031009	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT,	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.0015	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.