The "points system" you are describing is very historically accurate. Technically, it was called the "Advanced Service Rating score" and decided which troops in the ETO would be sent home as part of Operation Magic Carpet (the mass demobilization after WWII ended) or be retrained for the invasion of Japan. Many veteran divisions had been whittled to absurdly low levels by the reduction of the ASR score down to 75 points in September 1945; the 88th Infantry Division was down to only 1,200 men! There were also gripes that the system unfairly rewarded rear-echelon troops; infantrymen didn't get additional points for risking their lives daily, besides points for medals, which all troops could get.
In immediate postwar Europe, US units were divided into four categories. Empty slots left by men sent home because of points were to be filled by new replacements.
| Category | Explanation |
|---|---|
| I | Units to remain in Europe (the occupation forces) |
| II | Units to be redeployed to the Pacific for the invasion of Japan. Some soldiers were to go directly there (the 86th Infantry Division, having fought in Europe for only 34 days, was guarding POW pens in the Philippines on V-J Day!) while others were to train back in the USA for a while before deploying |
| III | Units to be reorganized and retrained before being classified as Category I or II |
| IV | Units to be sent home and inactivated with personnel discharged |
In order to be sent home, a man needed to accumulate 85 points as you have noted. Many soldiers earned well over 100 points; this just rounded down to 85. No points were given for age or marital status.
| Criteria | Points |
|---|---|
| 1 month of military service | 1 point |
| 1 month of military service overseas (in addition to total time in service) | 1 point |
| Combat award (medal or campaign streamer) | 5 points |
| Having a dependent under the age of 18* | 12 points per dependent |
*Men who had three or more dependents under 18 were eligible for immediate repatriation and discharge regardless of the amount of points they had earned
So, as an example, a man who served for 3 years in the Army, including 1 and a half years overseas, had a child under 18, and fought in the Northern France, Ardennes-Alsace, Rhineland and Central Europe Campaigns, earning a Silver Star and Purple Heart, would have:
36 (months in service) + 18 (months overseas) + 12 (dependent under 18) + 5 (Northern France) + 5 (Rhineland) + 5 (Ardennes-Alsace) + 5 (Central Europe) + 5 (Silver Star) + 5 (Purple Heart) =
91 points, enough to go home!
Campaign Streamers in chronological order:
| Campaign | Dates |
|---|---|
| Egypt-Libya | June 11, 1942 - February 13, 1943 |
| Air Offensive, Europe | 4 July 1942 - 5 June 1944 |
| Algeria-French Morocco | 8 - 11 November 1942 |
| Tunisia | 17 November 1942 - 13 May 1943 |
| Sicily | 9 July - 17 August 1943 |
| Naples-Foggia | 9 September 1943 - 21 January 1944 |
| Anzio | 22 January - 24 May 1944 |
| Rome-Arno | 22 January - 9 September 1944 |
| Normandy | 6 June - 24 July 1944 |
| Northern France | 25 July - 14 September 1944 |
| Southern France (for the units that invaded Southern France) | 15 August - 14 September 1944 |
| North Apennines | 10 September 1944 - 4 April 1945 |
| Rhineland | 15 September 1944 - 21 March 1945 |
| Ardennes-Alsace* | 16 December 1944 - 25 January 1945 |
| Central Europe | 22 March - 11 May 1945 |
| Po Valley | 5 April - 8 May 1945 |
(asterisk)- This campaign was amended after the war by pleas from General Alexander Patch to include the US Seventh Army divisions that fought in Alsace. Depending upon which source you look at (published during the war or after it), the divisions that fought in Alsace are sometimes awarded this streamer, sometimes not; officially, the "Alsatian" divisions (3rd, 12th Armored, 14th Armored, 36th, 42nd, 44th, 45th, 63rd, 70th, 79th, 100th, and 103rd) all have it.
European-African-Middle Eastern Theater
Explanation of the ASR system
http://www.custermen.com/AtTheFront/Points.htm
ASR Score Calculation: The Points System, by W. Wesley Johnston (sample ASR card)
Most Underrated General of World War II: Alexander Patch, by Keith E. Bonn
The U.S. Army in the Occupation of Germany 1944–1946, by Earl F. Ziemke