ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


	
	BOARD DATE:  15 August 2019

	DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20180003638


APPLICANT REQUESTS:  On behalf of his father, a former service member (FSM), 
correction of the FSM's WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of 
Separation – Honorable Discharge) to reflect prisoner of war (POW) status.

APPLICANT'S SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS CONSIDERED BY THE BOARD: 

*	DD Form 149 (Application for Correction of Military Record)
*	statement, undated
*	Wisconsin State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Birth Certificate, 
dated 11 May 1943
*	letter, partial, undated
*	WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation – Honorable 
Discharge)
*	excerpt page (not numbered), The Milwaukee Journal, dated 24 April 1945
*	Wisconsin Certificate of Vital Record, Certificate of Death, Department of Health 
and Social Services Division of Health, State of Wisconsin, dated 21 February 
2018

FACTS:

1.  The applicant did not file within the three year time frame provided in Title 10, United 
States Code (USC), section 1552 (b); however, the Army Board for Correction of 
Military Records conducted a substantive review of this case and determined it is in the 
interest of justice to excuse the applicant's failure to timely file. 

2.  The applicant states the FSM's WD AGO Form 53-55 does not reflect his POW 
status.  

3.  The complete military records are not available for review.  A fire destroyed 
approximately 18 million service members' records at the National Personnel Records 
Center in 1973.  It is believed that the FSM's records were lost or destroyed in that fire.  
However, there were sufficient documents remaining in a reconstructed record to 
conduct a fair and impartial review of this case.

4.  The WD AGO Form 53-55 shows:

	a.  On 26 July 1944, the FSM was inducted into the Army of the United States.

	b.  On 16 January 1945, the FSM arrived in the European Theater of Operations.

	c.  On 16 March 1945, he was wounded in action in Germany.

	d.  On 16 May 1945, he departed the European Theater of Operations and arrived in 
the United States on 28 May 1945.

	e.  On 17 November 1945 he was separated from the Army with a Certificate of 
Disability for Discharge.

	f.  The FSM was awarded the European African Middle Eastern Theater Ribbon with 
one bronze battle star and the Purple Heart.

5.  The applicant provided a page of an undated letter in which the unidentified writer 
states, "The Germans kept all my papers."

6.  The applicant provided a page from the Milwaukee Journal, dated 24 April 1945, 
stating, "Three Milwaukee servicemen who were prisoners of Germany until released 
recently by advancing Allied armies arrived home Tuesday for 60 day furloughs.  Also 
liberated was [FSM].  He was found in a German hospital by advancing American 
forces.  [FSM] crossed the Rhine with the 99th Division, was wounded Mar. 27 and 
taken to the German hospital."

7.  A review of the National Archives and Records Administration listing of POWs held 
by Germany during World War II did not show the FSM among those listed.

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states the POW Medal was authorized 
on 8 November 1985 and is awarded to individuals who in past armed conflicts were 
taken prisoner or held captive after 5 April 1917.  The POW Medal is to be issued only 
to those U.S. military personnel and other personnel granted creditable U.S. military 
service who were taken prisoner and held captive:

*	while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States
*	while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign 
force
*	while serving with friendly forces engaged in an armed conflict against an 
opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party
*	by foreign armed forces that are hostile to the United States, under 
circumstances which the Secretary concerned finds to have been comparable to 
those under which persons have generally been held captive by enemy armed 
forces during periods of armed conflict
9.  Army Regulation 635-5 (Separation Documents) establishes the standardized policy 
for preparing and distributing discharge documents.  It directs that, in the case of 
POWs, the unit of assignment, country, and dates of capture and release will be entered 
in the “Remarks” section of the discharge document.

BOARD DISCUSSION:

1.  The Board carefully considered the applicant’s request, supporting documents and 
evidence in the records.  The Board considered the applicant’s statement, the belief that 
his records were among those burned at the archives, the annotation that he was 
wounded and the text of the newspaper article he provided stating he was abounded 
and found in a German hospital.  The Board determined, by a preponderance of 
evidence, that him being in a German hospital after being wounded was sufficient to 
show him as a prisoner of war and that he is authorized the POW Medal.  The Board 
determined that the applicant’s record should be corrected accordingly.

2.  After reviewing the application and all supporting documents, the Board found the 
relief was warranted.

BOARD VOTE:

Mbr 1	Mbr 2	Mbr 3

:X	:X	:X	GRANT FULL RELIEF

:	:	:	GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

:	:	:	GRANT FORMAL HEARING

:	:	:	DENY APPLICATION







BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

The Board determined the evidence presented is sufficient to warrant a 
recommendation for partial relief.  As a result, the Board recommends that all 
Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by:

-	Awarding him the POW Medal as a result of his presence in a German Hospital 
after his wounding on 16 March 1945, and;
-	Amending his WD AGO Form 53-55 item 33 (Decorations and Citations) to add – 
POW Medal and item 55 (Remarks) to add – Co A 394th Inf 99th Div, Germany, 
16 March -27 March 1945



	  
I certify that herein is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the 
Army Board for Correction of Military Records in this case.


ADMINISTRATIVE NOTE(S):

Not Applicable




REFERENCES:

1.  Title 10, USC, section 1552(b), provides that applications for correction of military 
records must be filed within three years after discovery of the alleged error or injustice.  
This provision of law also allows the Army Board for Correction of Military Records 
(ABCMR) to excuse an applicant's failure to timely file within the three-year statute of 
limitations if the ABCMR determines it would be in the interest of justice to do so.

2.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states the POW Medal was authorized 
on 8 November 1985 and is awarded to individuals who in past armed conflicts were 
taken prisoner or held captive after 5 April 1917.  The POW Medal is to be issued only 
to those U.S. military personnel and other personnel granted creditable U.S. military 
service who were taken prisoner and held captive:

*	while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States
*	while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign 
force
*	while serving with friendly forces engaged in an armed conflict against an 
opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party
*	by foreign armed forces that are hostile to the United States, under 
circumstances which the Secretary concerned finds to have been comparable to 
those under which persons have generally been held captive by enemy armed 
forces during periods of armed conflict

3.  Army Regulation 635-5 (Separation Documents) establishes the standardized policy 
for preparing and distributing discharge documents.  It directs that, in the case of 
POWs, the unit of assignment, country, and dates of capture and release will be entered 
in the “Remarks” section of the discharge document.


ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)	 AR20180003638

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