6. The US Army points system for discharge
The magic number for the troops deployed in Europe was 85. That was the number of points which determined that a soldier or airman was eligible to go home and be discharged. Points were allotted in a manner which favored married men with children. For each month in the military, a member received 1 point. Each month overseas was another point. Battle stars earned by the member’s unit were worth 5 points apiece, as were certain awards such as the Purple Heart. Other awards which earned 5 points were the Bronze Star, the Soldier’s Medal, and the Presidential Unit Citation. Points were earned for several other military activities as well. Those with dependent children were awarded 12 points for each child.
It was the responsibility of the company clerk to maintain the record of each man’s score on a document called the Adjusted Service Rating Card. At the end of the war in Europe, the Army sent those men with 85 points to the camps for preparation to send them home. Those with 80-84 points were deployed to other units in Europe or remained where they were assigned. Those with lower scores were scheduled to be sent to the United States, where after a brief furlough they were to be assigned to other units to be retrained in preparation for service against Japan in the Pacific. Of course, there were some who wanted to remain in Europe for occupation service (or for more personal reasons) and they were considered on a case-by-case basis by their commanding officers and the Army chain of command.
