APPLICANT REQUESTS: Correction of his military records to reflect award of the Purple Heart and Combat Infantryman Badge. He states he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge and Purple Heart for minor wounds and injuries received from enemy fire while assigned to the 179th Infantry Regiment of the 45th Infantry Division while in Korea.
PURPOSE: To determine whether the application was submitted within the time limit established by law, and if not, whether it is in the interest of justice to excuse the failure to timely file.
EVIDENCE OF RECORDS: The applicants military records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973. Information herein was reconstructed from documents provided by the applicant and information contained in he VA files.
He was called to active duty with his National Guard unit, Headquarters Company, 45th Infantry Division on 22 August 1950 and served 15 months of overseas service in Japan and Korea. While his branch is listed as infantry it is unclear what duties he performed while in Korea. His separation report notes that a comparable civilian occupation would have been as a magazine keeper.
His service medical records indicate the applicant developed a throat infection, followed by an infection of the glands...in 1951, in Japan....In 1952, he again developed an enlargement of the glands...and was hospitalized four days in Korea.
His separation physical examination, conducted on 17 June 1952 at Fort Sill, Oklahoma is silent regarding any wounds or injuries sustained as a result of hostile actions. On 29 June 1952 he was released from active duty. His DD Form 214, which he authenticated does not reflect award of the Combat Infantryman Badge or the Purple Heart and item 29 (wounds received as a result of action with enemy forces) reflects NONE.
Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides that the Purple Heart is awarded for wounds sustained as a result of hostile action. Substantiating evidence must be provided to verify that the wound was the result of hostile action, the wound must have required treatment by a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record. There is no evidence, and the applicant has not provided any, which confirms he sustained any wounds or injuries as a result of hostile actions while in Korea.
There are basically three requirements for award of the Combat Infantryman Badge. The soldier must be an infantryman, assigned to an infantry unit of regimental or smaller size during such time as the unit is engaged in active ground combat, and must have actively participated in such ground combat. While the applicant may have been an infantryman his records indicate he was assigned to the headquarters element of an infantry division. There is no evidence he was assigned to the 179th Infantry Regiment.
Title 10, U.S. Code, section 1552(b), provides that applications for correction of military records must be filed within 3 years after discovery of the alleged error or injustice. Failure to file within 3 years may be excused by a correction board if it finds it would be in the interest of justice to do so.
DISCUSSION: The alleged error or injustice was, or with reasonable diligence should have been discovered on 29 June 1952, the date of discharge. The time for the applicant to file a request for correction of any error or injustice expired on 29 June 1955.
The application is dated 27 June 1994 and the applicant has not explained or otherwise satisfactorily demonstrated by competent evidence that it would be in the interest of justice to excuse the failure to apply within the time allotted.
DETERMINATION: The subject application was not submitted within the time required. The applicant has not presented and the records do not contain sufficient justification to conclude that it would be in the interest of justice to grant the relief requested or to excuse the failure to file within the time prescribed by law.
BOARD VOTE:
EXCUSE FAILURE TO TIMELY FILE
GRANT FORMAL HEARING
CONCUR WITH DETERMINATION
Karl F. Schneider
Acting Director
ARMY | BCMR | CY2004 | 20040008284C070208
The applicant requests correction of his records to show award of the Purple Heart. Once the Korean War Service Medal has been authorized by the Department of the Air Force, the applicant may apply to this Board to add this foreign award to his DD Form 214. Therefore, his records should be corrected to show this award.
ARMY | BCMR | CY2006 | 20060010317
The applicant essentially states that he was wounded by mortar fire while engaging the enemy on or about 28 February 1952 during the Korean War. Therefore, he is entitled to award of the Republic of Korea Korean War Service Medal, and correction of his military records to show this award. Therefore, the Board requests that the CMSD-St. Louis administratively correct the records of the individual concerned by issuing an appropriate document to show award of the National Defense Service...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2003 | 2003086077C070212
According to information recorded in Section 4 (Service Outside Continental United States) of the applicant's DD Form 230, Service Record, the applicant departed from Seattle, Washington, on 25 April 1952 and arrived in Inchon, Korea, on 17 May 1952. Once the Department of the Air Force has authorized the Korean War Service Medal, the applicant may apply to the Army Board for Correction of Military Records to have it added to his DD Form 214. a. awarding the applicant the Purple Heart for...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2007 | 20070005608
Further, the letter shows the applicant requested that his file be checked to see if an error was made in the amount of combat pay he was entitled to receive based on being wounded in action in Korea, time spent in the hospital, and for the time prior to being wounded. The letter shows that based on the Combat Duty Pay Act of 1952, combat pay was provided to individuals who were members of military units in Korea that qualified as combat units for six days during a month. The applicant...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2010 | 20100019735
There are no orders or other evidence in the applicant's military service records that shows he was awarded the Purple Heart. There are no orders or other evidence in the applicant's military personnel records that shows he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge. In addition, there are no orders or other evidence in the applicant's military service records that show he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge.
ARMY | BCMR | CY2002 | 2002072019C070403
The applicant requests correction of military records as stated in the application to the Board and as restated herein. EVIDENCE OF RECORD : The applicant's military records show: Once the Department of the Air Force has authorized the Korean War Service Medal, the applicant may apply to the Army Board for Correction of Military Records to add this foreign award to his or her DD Form 214.
ARMY | BCMR | CY2013 | 20130020713
The applicant requests reconsideration of his previous request to correct his DD Form 214 (Report of Separation from the Armed Forces of the United States) to show: * he received shrapnel wounds to his right leg in item 29 (Wounds Received as a Result of Action with Enemy Forces) * award of the Purple Heart and Combat Infantryman Badge 2. Section 8 (Wounds Received Through Enemy Action) of his DA Form 24 (Service Record) does not contain an entry. The criteria for award of the Purple Heart...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2014 | 20140003830
The FSM's military records are not available to the Board for review. The FSM's DD Form 214 shows he was inducted into the Army of the United States on 8 January 1951 and he served in military occupational specialty 1745 (Light Weapons Infantryman): * the highest rank he attained while serving on active duty was sergeant on 1 July 1952 * he was honorably released from active duty on 8 October 1952 after serving 1 year, 9 months, and 1 day of total net service * he had 1 year, 3 months, and...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2002 | 2002079639C070215
The applicant's DD Form 230 (Service Record) shows that he served in Korea from 20 August 1950 through 20 September 1950. Once the Korean War Service Medal has been authorized by the Department of the Air Force, the applicant may apply to the Army Board for Correction of Military Records to add this foreign award to his DD Form 214. The Board also reviewed the medical records, dated 1956 and 1981, provided by the applicant, which show that he reported that he sustained a battle injury in...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2006 | 20060011110C071029
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 6 March 2007 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20060011110 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. The applicant states he should have been awarded the Purple Heart for an injury he received in combat and for which he has been awarded disability compensation. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states the...