PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:       

	BOARD DATE:            07 AUGUST 2003                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2002080422

	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. Gale J. Thomas		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Arthur A. Omartian		Chairperson	
	Mr. Thomas B. Redfern III		Member	
	Ms. Mae M. Bullock		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 separation document be corrected to reflect award of a second Purple Heart, assignment to 3rd Infantry, 7th Infantry Regiment, Company L, and his year of his birth as 1909.  

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that he was wounded twice while serving in World War II, and would like a second Purple Heart, that he was assigned to Company E, 262 Infantry only for his return to the United States, that he served with the 3rd Infantry, 7th Infantry Regiment, Company L, and would like that unit reflected on his separation document, and that his year of birth be corrected to show 1909 and not 1900.  

4.  Although the applicant’s military personnel file was apparently lost or destroyed during the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center, information reconstructed from alternate sources and documents provided by the applicant indicate he entered active duty on 21 September 1943 and served overseas with the 3rd Infantry, 7th Infantry Regiment, Company L between October 1944 and May 1945.  

5.  He was awarded the Purple Heart for injuries he received in combat in         October 1944.

6.  Hospital admission records provided by the Office of the Surgeon General indicate the applicant received a second battle injury in March 1945, as the result of fragments from an artillery shell. 

7.  The applicant was separated on 11 November 1945, as a result of demobilization, his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation) indicated he was assigned to Company E, 262nd Infantry, was awarded the Purple Heart for injuries he received in October 1944, and shows his year of birth as 1900. 

8.  The applicant’s Separation Qualification Record (WG AGO Form 100), indicates the applicant’s date of birth as 22 July 1909. 

9.  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 WD AGO Form 53-55.  It also notes that an assignment to units for purpose of transfer from a theater to the United States is considered part of the movement to a separation activity.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant was wounded as a result of hostile action October 1944 and a second time in March 1945, and is therefore entitled to award of a second Purple Heart.

2.  There is sufficient evidence to conclude that the applicant was assigned to   3rd Infantry, 7th Infantry Regiment, Company L, while overseas and that Company E, 262nd Infantry was likely a transitional unit based on the short period of time between his departure form the overseas theater and his separation from active duty.

3.  The applicant and his Separation Qualification Record indicate his year of birth as 1909 and not 1900 as reflected on his separation document.  The Board is satisfied that the error was made on his WD AGO Form 53-55 regarding the applicant’s year of birth.

4.  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 awarding the applicant a second Purple Heart for wounds he received in March 1945,

b.  by showing he was assigned to Company L, 7th Infantry Regiment,     3rd Infantry, and 

	c.  by showing his date of birth on his WD AGO Form 53-55 as 22 July 1909.

BOARD VOTE:  

__AAO__  __TBR __  __MMB__  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		____Arthur A. Omartian_____
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2002080422	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20030807	
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.	110.00	
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.