Search Decisions

Decision Text

ARMY | BCMR | CY2001 | 2001058896C070421
Original file (2001058896C070421.rtf) Auto-classification: Denied
MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION


         IN THE CASE OF:
        


         BOARD DATE: 18 October 2001
         DOCKET NUMBER: AR2001058896

         I certify that hereinafter is recorded the record of consideration of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in the case of the above-named individual.
Mr. Carl W. S. Chun Director
Ms. Lee Tinsley Analyst


The following members, a quorum, were present:
Mr. Fred N. Eichorn Chairperson
Ms. Barbara J. Ellis Member
Mr. Melvin H. Meyer Member

         The Board, established pursuant to authority contained in 10 U.S.C. 1552, convened at the call of the Chairperson on the above date. In accordance with Army Regulation 15-185, the application and the available military records pertinent to the corrective action requested were reviewed to determine whether to authorize a formal hearing, recommend that the records be corrected without a formal hearing, or to deny the application without a formal hearing if it is determined that insufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the existence of probable material error or injustice.
         The applicant requests correction of military records as stated in the application to the Board and as restated herein.
         The Board considered the following evidence:
         Exhibit A - Application for correction of military
records
         Exhibit B - Military Personnel Records (including
         advisory opinion, if any)

APPLICANT REQUESTS: That he be awarded the Purple Heart.

 APPLICANT STATES : That he is entitled to the Purple Heart based on a wound in his upper left arm.
EVIDENCE OF RECORD : The applicant's military records were lost or destroyed in the July 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center. Information herein was obtained from reconstructed personnel records.

 He was inducted and entered active duty on 24 February 1944. He was trained as a tank crewman and served in Europe from 28 October 1944 to 27 April 1946. He served in three campaigns and was also awarded the Good Conduct Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Bronze Star Medal, the Army of Occupation Medal w/Germany clasp and an Honorable Service Lapel Button WWII. The Purple Heart is not listed on his WD AGO 53-55 (Report of Separation) and block
34 (wounds received in action) states NONE. He authenticated his discharge document with his thumbprint and signature on the date of his separation, 11 May 1946. There are no medical records or treatment documents available.
The applicant submits two separate letters from a civilian doctor stating that there is a piece of metal in the applicant’s upper left arm verified by x-rays. A witness statement, written 56 years after the fact, by a fellow soldier states that he witnessed the applicant being hit by shrapnel and that the applicant was treated by a field medic but that the applicant refused to be evacuated to a field hospital for further treatment. A Department of Veterans Affairs (DAV) rating decision dated 25 August 1999, states that the applicant had been awarded a 10 percent rating for retained foreign bodies in his left arm.

 A health record research project, commonly referred to as the "SGO Files", involved transposing the hospital admission card data from the periods of World War II and the Korean conflict onto magnetic tape. In 1988 the National Research Council made these tape files available to the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC). The availability of the information to the NPRC received considerable publicity by the various veterans service organizations. It was widely believed that these tapes would become a valuable substitute for the records lost in the NPRC fire of 1973. Searches of these files fail to show that the applicant was treated for wounds or injuries as a result of enemy action.

Army Regulation 600-45, Personnel Decorations (C-5, dated 11 Nov 44), in effect at the time, indicated that the Purple Heart was awarded to members who were wounded in action against an enemy of the United States, or as a direct result of an act of such enemy, provided such wound necessitated treatment by a medical officer. (For the purpose of awarding the Purple Heart, a wound is defined as an injury to any part of the body from an outside force, element, or agent sustained as the result of a hostile act of the enemy or while in action in the face of the enemy.) 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 at the time of treatment.
DISCUSSION: Considering all the evidence, allegations, and information presented by the applicant, together with the evidence of record, and applicable law and regulations, it is concluded:

 1. In order to justify correction of a military record, the applicant must show to the satisfaction of the Board, or it must otherwise satisfactorily appear, that the record is in error or unjust. The applicant has failed to submit evidence that would satisfy this requirement.
2. The statements of individuals are inadequate as the sole basis for an award of the Purple Heart because they do not fulfill the regulatory requirement that there be a record of medical treatment at the time of the injury. However, they are normally accepted as a substantiation of the combat or the enemy origin of a wound for which there is a record of treatment.
3. The rating decision from the DVA states that when reasonable doubt occurs regarding service origin and the degree of the disability then such doubt is resolved in favor of the applicant. This Board is not bound by the decisions of the DVA on this matter. There is insufficient credible evidence to show that the applicant was wounded as a result of enemy action.
4. In view of the foregoing, there is no basis for granting the applicant's request.

 DETERMINATION : The applicant has failed to submit sufficient relevant evidence to demonstrate the existence of probable error or injustice.
BOARD VOTE :
GRANT

 GRANT FORMAL HEARING

 fe be mm DENY APPLICATION
Carl W. S. Chun
Director, Army Board for Correction
of Military Records
INDEX
CASE ID AR2001058896
SUFFIX
RECON
DATE BOARDED 20011018
TYPE OF DISCHARGE
DATE OF DISCHARGE
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY
DISCHARGE REASON
BOARD DECISION DENY
REVIEW AUTHORITY
ISSUES 1. 107 Purple Heart
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.




Similar Decisions

  • ARMY | BCMR | CY2008 | 20080018783

    Original file (20080018783.txt) Auto-classification: Denied

    On the applicant's separation on demobilization, he was issued a WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation - Honorable Discharge). The Purple Heart is not shown on his WD AGO Form 53-55. In the absence of evidence that the applicant was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action and treated for those wounds, there is insufficient evidence upon which to base award of the Purple Heart in this case.

  • ARMY | BCMR | CY2010 | 20100022323

    Original file (20100022323.txt) Auto-classification: Denied

    Frostbite or trench foot injuries were also examples of injuries or wounds which clearly do not justify award of the Purple Heart DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: 1. The applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 shows no combat wounds were recorded on his separation document. As he was not treated for a combat injury, there is no basis for awarding him the Purple Heart.

  • ARMY | BCMR | CY2014 | 20140021383

    Original file (20140021383.txt) Auto-classification: Denied

    The applicant provides: * a letter, dated 17 November 2014, to his Congressional representative from the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) * his WD AGO Form 100 (Separation Qualification Record) CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. The applicant's military records are not available to the Board for review. Evidence shows that the applicant's records contain administrative error which does not require action by the Board.

  • ARMY | BCMR | CY2002 | 2002067291C070402

    Original file (2002067291C070402.rtf) Auto-classification: Denied

    EVIDENCE OF RECORD : The applicant's military records were lost or destroyed in the July 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center. The Purple Heart is not listed on his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Report of Separation) but was typed in at a later date and block 34 (wounds received in action) stated "None" but was also typed over at a later date with "right leg." There is insufficient evidence presented by the applicant and no medical evidence of record to indicate that the applicant was...

  • ARMY | BCMR | CY2010 | 20100008803

    Original file (20100008803.txt) Auto-classification: Approved

    The applicant states the FSM's discharge document does not show award of the Purple Heart. In addition, the applicant has not provided any medical evidence from the FSM's enlistment period that shows the FSM sustained combat wounds. As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by: a. deleting the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal from the FSM's WD AGO Form 53-55 and b. adding the European-African-Middle...

  • ARMY | BCMR | CY2013 | 20130008638

    Original file (20130008638.txt) Auto-classification: Approved

    The FSM's military records are not available to the Board for review. The applicant requests that the FSM's military records be corrected to show two awards of the PH and to show them on his WD AGO Form 53-55. As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by: a. awarding the FSM the Purple Heart for wounds received in action on 14 January 1944; b. adding to item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) the entry, 14 January...

  • ARMY | BCMR | CY2013 | 20130018947

    Original file (20130018947.txt) Auto-classification: Denied

    The applicant, the son of a deceased former service member (FSM), requests correction of the FSM's records to show he was wounded by "friendly fire" and awarded the Purple Heart. The FSM's military service records are not available to the Board for review. The evidence of record shows that both the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force award approval authorities considered the evidence and determined there was insufficient available evidence to award the FSM the Purple Heart.

  • ARMY | BCMR | CY2013 | 20130007494

    Original file (20130007494.txt) Auto-classification: Denied

    A fire destroyed approximately 18 million service members' records at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in 1973. Furthermore, there is no evidence showing he ever required medical treatment or received medical treatment for a concussion or other ear conditions. The evidence shows the applicant's records contain an administrative error which does not require action by the Board.

  • ARMY | BCMR | CY2014 | 20140017596

    Original file (20140017596 .txt) Auto-classification: Denied

    The applicant's military service records are not available to the Board for review. There are no orders or other evidence in the applicant's available military service records that shows he was awarded the Purple Heart. In order to support awarding a member the Purple Heart, it is necessary to establish that the wound for which the award is being made required treatment by medical personnel and the medical treatment for the wound or injury received in action must have been made a matter of...

  • ARMY | BCMR | CY2006 | 20060010179

    Original file (20060010179.txt) Auto-classification: Denied

    x The Board considered the following evidence: Exhibit A - Application for correction of military records. The applicant, as the widow of a deceased former service member (FSM), requests, in effect, that her husband’s records be corrected to show he was wounded and to show award of the Purple Heart for wounds he received during World War II. Therefore, the Board requests that the CMSD-St. Louis administratively correct the records of the individual concerned to show award of the Bronze...