PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:       

	BOARD DATE:           24 February 2000                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999033969

	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. Jessie B. Strickland		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. Celia L. Adolphi		Chairperson	
	Mr. James P. Huber		Member	
	Ms. Margaret V. Thompson		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 reflect all of the awards that he is authorized and that he be issued all of his authorized decorations and awards. 

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that his records do not contain all of the decorations and awards that he is authorized and that he was never issued any of the decorations and awards that are indicated on his records because he served in three different divisions.  In support of his application he submits copies of his qualification for the parachutist badge, his qualification as a gliderist, an order for outstanding performance by his unit in the Philippine Islands during the period 7 May to 17 May 1945, a copy of his report of separation (WD AGO Form 53-55) and miscellaneous other personal documents.

4.  The applicant’s military records were destroyed in the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri which destroyed millions of service records.  However, the documents submitted by the applicant show that he was inducted at Fort Lewis, Washington on 7 November 1944, that he was awarded the military occupational specialty (MOS) of a light truck driver, and that he was transferred to the Asian Theater of Operations on 6 April 1945 and remained there until his departure on 11 September 1946.

5.  Based on the documents provided by the applicant, it appears that he was assigned to Company L, 103rd Infantry Regiment, 43d Infantry Division, Company K, 387th Infantry Regiment and the 188th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 11th Airborne Division.

6.  He attained parachutist qualification on 8 April 1946 and gliderist qualification on 12 August 1946.

7.  He remained on active duty until he was honorably discharged at Fort Lewis on 21 November 1946.  He had served 2 years and 16 days of total active service and was awarded the Parachutist Badge, the Army of Occupation Medal (Japan), the Philippine Liberation Service Medal with one bronze service star, the Asiatic-Pacific Service Medal, the WW II Victory Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, and the Marksman Marksmanship Badge with M-1 Rifle bar. 

8.  Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-1 is a register of unit citations and campaign credits for units that participated in WW II.  A review of that pamphlet failed to show that either of the applicant’s units were awarded unit awards that are authorized for entry onto the report of separation during the time in question.

9.  Army Regulation 600-2-22 serves as the authority for award of the Glider Badge which was rescinded on 3 May 1961.  It states, in pertinent part, that the Glider Badge was awarded when the established proficiency tests were satisfactorily completed while assigned or attached to an airborne unit or by participation in at least one combat glider landing.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant has clearly shown that he was qualified as a gliderist and should have been awarded the Glider Badge.  However, it appears that an administrative oversight resulted in that award being omitted from his records at the time of separation.  Therefore, it would in the interest of justice to do so at this time. 

2.  Although the Board cannot determine with any degree of certainty if the applicant was in fact never awarded the actual medal sets he was awarded, the Board is inclined to believe that given his 17 months in a combat theater of operations and the fact that his award of the Glider badge was not included in his records, that he was never issued the medals he is authorized.

3.  Therefore, it would be in the interest of justice to award the applicant, at no cost, all badges and medal sets he is authorized if they are still available.

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

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 Glider Badge.

2.  That the Department issue, at no cost to the applicant, the appropriate badges and medal sets (if available) for all decorations and awards that he is authorized.

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

BOARD VOTE:  

_cla__        __jph__     __mvt___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999033969	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	2000/02/24	
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         1.107.0119	165/GLDR BAD	
2.110.0000	189/CORR 214	
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.