PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF: 

	BOARD DATE:           16 May 2000 
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999031101

	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. Robert J. McGowan		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Arthur A. Omartian		Chairperson	
	Mr. Van B. Cunningham		Member	
	Mr. Lester Echols		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 records be corrected to show that he was wounded in action and awarded the Purple Heart; that he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge.

3.  The applicant states that his records support his receipt of these awards, but they are not listed on his discharge paperwork.

4.  The applicant’s military records show that he enlisted in the Regular Army on 22 October 1940 in Evansville, Indiana.  He was trained as a field lineman and assigned to the 163rd Field Artillery Battalion, 38th Infantry Division.  In December 1943, he departed the United States for the Pacific Theater of Operations.  He participated in three campaigns – New Guinea, South Philippines Liberation, and Luzon.

5.  The applicant’s records reveal that he was wounded twice.  He received a gunshot wound to the head on Leyte, Philippine Islands in 1944 and a gunshot wound to his left leg on Luzon, Philippine Islands in 1945.  Both wounds were treated by medical personnel at the 32nd Evacuation Hospital and the 36th Evacuation Hospital.

6.  On 12 June 1945, the applicant was convicted by a general court-martial of going AWOL in order to avoid hazardous duty.  He was sentenced to 2 years’ confinement at hard labor and a dishonorable discharge.  The unexecuted portion of his sentence was suspended on 13 May 1946 and he was honorably discharged on 13 November 1946.  His WD AGO 53-55, Enlisted Record and Report of Separation, does not list his wounds, nor does it credit him with his Purple Heart medals.

7.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 prescribes Army policy, criteria, and administrative instructions concerning individual military awards.  It provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart 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.

8.  War Department Circular 269-1943 established the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) to recognize and provide an incentive to infantrymen.  The CIB was awarded for exemplary conduct in action against the enemy.  War Department Circular 186-1944 further provided that the CIB was to be awarded only to infantrymen serving with infantry units of brigade, regimental or smaller size.  Additionally, World War II holders of the CIB 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.  The Awards Branch, Total Army Personnel Command, has advised in similar cases that, during World War II, the CIB was normally awarded only to enlisted individuals who served in the following positions:

    a.  Light machine gunner (604)
    b.  Heavy machine gunner (605)
    c.  Platoon sergeant (651)
    d.  Squad leader (653)
    e.  Rifleman (745)
    f.  Automatic rifleman (746)
    g.  Heavy weapons NCO (812)
    h.  Gun crewman (864)

9.  All soldiers are provided basic combat skills training after they enter the Army.  This is provided to insure that all soldiers have the survival skills to perform basic infantry missions when the need arises.  No other soldier in combat is more exposed on a daily basis to the dangers and hardships of war and no other branch of the service suffers more casualties than the infantry.  To maintain the prestige, uniqueness, and traditional value of the CIB, the criteria for award has changed little over the years.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant’s records support awarding him the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster for wounds he received in the Philippine Islands during World War II.

2.  The applicant’s records indicate that he was never designated as an infantryman and is therefore not entitled to the CIB.

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

RECOMMENDATION:

1.  That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by issuing to the individual concerned a correction to his WD AGO 53-55 to show that he suffered a gunshot wound to the top of his skull on Leyte, Philippine Islands in 1944 and a gunshot wound to his left leg on Luzon, Philippine Islands in 1945, and that he was awarded the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster.

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

BOARD VOTE:  

________  ________  ________  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

__aao___  __vbc___  __le  ____  DENY APPLICATION

		_ARTHUR A. OMARTIAN___
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999031101	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20000516	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT PLUS	
REVIEW AUTHORITY	DASA	
ISSUES         1.	107.0015	
2.	107.0111	
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.