Combat Infantry Badge

After spouse I believe it is children and/or parents. Both my sister and I qualified as such for getting my fathers service information and my mother is still alive. Grandchildren and siblings may count as well.

 

I may have missed it, but did you request the records from the NPRC in St. Louis? I did research on my grandfather as well, and I too got the "the file was destoyed in the fire". BUT I did receive 5 pages. The five pages did not amount to much, but on one of the the pages (the Report of Death) there was a chance mentioning of the CIB, and it cited the General Order which granted it. Long story short, I would request any and all records to see if the are any mentioning of the CIB and quite possibly the general order. Others may have mentioned it as well, but I would look into ordering the After Action Reports for the unit. They do detail the issuing of the CIB to soldiers of the unit. Another point you may consider, the CIB may have been issued to him far in advance of him being injured. My grandfather was killed in December 1944, but his CIB was issued in early December for actions he was involved in in November 1944. Finally, even though I had the exact citation for the General Order, I had to find a private contractor who did work for the government to get a copy of the Order. I initially requested it from the government, but they could not find it. It took my scouring the internet to finally find it..........Good luck to you.

 

That's good info & recommendations, B44. One of my great uncles was KIA and, as I was going through his IDPF, I found a reference to the specific GO for his CIB. The point is, you never know where the info might turn up, so keep digging.

And, B44, thanks for sharing your experiences and efforts on the forum. It is a great help and encouragement for others who are on the same path.

 

I'm only giving back to a forum which gave so much to me....kinda like paying it forward......

 

Thanks for the advice B44. I'll look into the After Action Reports. I did request all of his paperwork from The NPRC. His records went up in the fire unfortunately. Who holds the After Action Reports?

 

The request needs to be sent to the National Archives. I sent them an email requesting After Action Reports for his unit for a certain time period. The more specific the request the better. Be sure to put your mailing address in it. They will mail you a list of docs they found and a quote for the fees. By the way, did you see the post by Golden Arrow, the company who provides these type of services? I am in no way connected to them and have not utilized his services yet, but I am thinking about hiring him to find some unit rosters and morning reports...It would make the process a lot easier....and faster.....the email I used for the National Archives is archives2reference@nara.gov .

 

Thanks for the info. Regarding Golden Arrow - Yes, I looked them up. I may use them at some point.

 

I picked up The European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal w/ one Bronze Service Star and The WWII Victory Medal from my Congressman's office yesterday. The Army awarded these two medals to my grandfather based on his service. I'm still moving forward on The Bronze Star!

 

Dave,
If your grandfather's discharge papers/report of separation shows the award of CIB then you can send a copy of it with a short letter requesting the Bronze Star Medal to the Department of the army Human Resources Command at Fort Knox, KY and they'll look up the General Order for the CIB and then send you a certificate for the BSM and an order for the medal to TACOM. I got my father's certificate a couple of weeks ago. It only took about 1 1/2 moths from the time I sent the first letter. However it's going to take about 6 months to get the actual medal from TACOM. Email me at dga99@hotmail.com if you need more info.
Good luck,
Darryl Andrews

 

No, the retroactive BSM was not awarded for valor and would not have the "V" attachment. It was awarded for meritorious service and not heroism which would qualify for the "V". My father's certificate reads "for exceptionally meritorious service". It took me about 1 1/2 months to receive the certificate but the medal won't arrive from TACOM for another 6 months.
Darryl Andrews

 

Hello,
I have a question please regarding the 700 series number requirement. My dad got his the same day as my friend's dad, but my Dad was a 745 ( I'm assuming he qualified under that MOS since he was also a 604 and 1736 ), but my friend's dad was a 607 or mortar crewman. Based on that, did the CIB extend to anyone in an Infantry Battalion who met the other requirements? What about a 610, or Anti-tank crewman?
Thanks!
James

 

Read This:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combat_Infantryman_Badge#Award_eligibility

There is a requirement for "Direct fire". My guess is that it would depend on the size of the mortar. Generally 60mm were organic to Infantry companies whereas 81's were Battalion Level. Some mechanized Infantry companies had them in there TO&E.

Maybe the answer is "Maybe?"

 

That makes sense, thanks! I can't seem to find anything regarding the Anti-Tank platoons though, any thoughts on them in regards to CIB's?

Thanks again!
James

 

There was a point right about the time the CIB came out where each branch (i.e. Armor, Engineer,Medics etc) we to develop their own branch specific combat award like the CIB. Unfortunately it was too little, too late and everyone was pretty much over the heraldry and just wanted to go home.

 

Good point, the last thing most of those guys were thinking about at that time was a badge ; ) Thanks again for your help with this!
James

 

The medics got their badge, the Combat Medic's Badge about the same time the CIB was adopted. That was a well earned award too. Still have it today as a matter of fact.

 

I have gotten CIB's with groups from Chemical Mortar Battalions, and lighter mortars as well. AT cannons, I have a group from the 100th Div. and he was awarded a CIB. HQ units, large and small. I know in WWII they were more than likely to award CIB's than later on as I'm they took into account the realities of combat. Now with new regs in place since 1961 they look at things a little differently. Certain criteria has to be met. I think they often judge the past by the current regs, which is just wrong. It should based on WWII practices and regs. The main problem, is the Army is the Army, and they tend to do what they want. A person really needs a backer like a sen. or congressman to help with the push. The Army owes my uncle a bronze star for his CIB, and my first cousin also, but despite records this would be difficult for me to achieve. It's like the old Army that always knew soldiers were wasting ammo, today they don't want to be accused of giving away medals. It's like AAF members fighting as infantry in 1941-42 in the PI, some of them got CIBs and some did not, although generally when requested they get them now.

 

No....you are making too big of a deal out of it...the order actually reads something like: "If you have a CIB you are awarded a Bronze Star" the intent of that was to allow a soldier to accrue "Rotation Points", this is actually addressed pretty well in the last episode of "Band of Brothers" (in regards to rotation points). The order also only applies to troops who were in combat for 45 days during the period of 7th December 1941 to 9 May 1945 (+/-), and it was enacted in late 1945). That order does not extend past that period so that would exclude your uncle and cousin who served after those dates.

You don't need a senator, go to your county VA coordinator, every county in the US has a VA office, and tell them what you are trying to do. You will have to submit an SF-180, with supporting documentation, to the National Personnel Records Center and you will get everything your relative has coming; it will take time, but, you'll get it.