| Mr. Carl W. S. Chun | Director | |
| Ms. Deborah L. Brantley | Senior Analyst |
| Mr. John N. Slone | Chairperson | |
| Ms. Barbara J. Ellis | Member | |
| Mr. John E. Denning | Member |
APPLICANT REQUESTS: In effect, award of the Purple Heart.
APPLICANT STATES: In response to previous correspondence from the staff of the Board, that he is receiving disability compensation from the VA for frozen feet. In support of his request he submits a copy of his VA disability document confirming entitlement to a combined disability rating of 70 percent for tinnitus, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and residuals of “cold injuries.”
EVIDENCE OF RECORD: The applicant's military records were likely lost or destroyed during the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center. Information contained herein was reconstructed from alternative sources, including previous applications to the Board by the applicant.
The applicant has contacted the Board on several occasions over the past few years requesting award of the Purple Heart. In an application dated 13 August 1998 he requested award of the Purple Heart be added to his “discharge” because he was “seeking compensation for frozen feet that happened during the Battle of the Bulge.” That request, and an earlier request dated 5 May 1998 in which the applicant merely requested that his records be amended “to show my Purple Heart Medal,” were administratively closed (AR1999016430) when it was determined that his military records were not available as a result of the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis.
In September 2000 the applicant submitted another request for award of the Purple Heart (AR2000048359). In this request he indicated that he had received the Purple Heart medal in France in September 1945 but it was never recorded. He stated that he had made previous requests for the Purple Heart but “never received a response” and that he wanted to have his records corrected so that he could “pass to [his] family that [he] rightfully received [the award] when wounded in WWII.” That application was considered by the Board on 13 February 2001 and denied. The Board noted that previous searches of unit morning and sick reports failed to confirm the applicant was wounded in action and that there was “an insufficient evidentiary basis on which to support award of the PH.”
In March 2001 the applicant again contacted the Board noting that he had made a mistake in his previous September 2000 application by stating that he had been wounded in September 1945 when in fact he had been hospitalized in March 1945 “due to wounds caused by enemy fire….” He also noted in the March 2001 correspondence that he was “service connected” for frozen feet and submitted an extract from the Airborne Want Ads which discussed entitlement to the Purple Heart based on frozen feet. The applicant’s March 2001 correspondence was accepted as a request for reconsideration and denied by a member of the Board’s staff on 19 June 2001 (AR2001055117). Although the staff member noted that the applicant’s contentions did not amount to new evidence and as such there was no basis to resubmit his application to the Board, he [the staff member] did note that the applicant had mentioned that he was service connected for frozen feet and requested that he [the applicant] submit documents which confirmed that statement.
The applicant recently submitted those documents to the Board as requested. The Board has determined that in view of the fact that it now appears the applicant is claiming possible entitlement to the Purple Heart based on residuals of his “cold injury” that it would be appropriate to consider his contention as a new application to the Board.
Incorporated herein by reference are all of the previous actions addressed by the Board regarding the applicant’s request for award of the Purple Heart (AR1999016430, AR2000048359, and AR2001055117).
While award of the Purple Heart for frostbite injuries is currently prohibited, such injuries were previously a basis for the award. Until 1951 Army Regulation 600-45, which governed the award of Army decorations, stated that for the purpose of considering an award of the Purple Heart, a “wound” is defined as an injury to any part of the body from an outside force, element, or agent sustained while in action in the fact of the armed enemy or as a result of a hostile act of such enemy. An “element” pertains to weather and the award of this decoration to personnel who were severely frostbitten while actually engaged in combat is authorized.
The Battle of the Bulge, which lasted from December 16, 1944 to January 28, 1945, was the largest land battle of World War II in which the United States participated.
DISCUSSION: Considering all the evidence, allegations, and information presented by the applicant, together with the evidence of record, applicable law and regulations, it is concluded:
1. Although the applicant may be receiving disability compensation for residuals of a cold injury, there is no evidence the “cold injury” occurred while the applicant was actively engaged in combat or that he ever received medical treatment for such an injury. The requirement that a wound be treated by a medical doctor and made a part of official records was necessary even for awards based on frostbite.
2. The Board also notes that in previous correspondence the applicant indicated that his hospitalization in March 1945 was the result of “wounds caused by enemy fire” and not as a result of combat incurred cold injuries.
3. The Board concludes that there continues to be insufficient evidence confirming that the applicant was wounded as result of hostile action during World War II, or that he sustained severe frostbite injuries while actively engaged in ground combat. As such there continues to be no basis which would justify correcting the applicant’s records to reflect award of the Purple Heart.
4. 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 that requirement.
5. 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
__JNS __ __BJE___ __JED _ DENY APPLICATION
| CASE ID | AR2001060905 |
| SUFFIX | |
| RECON | YYYYMMDD |
| DATE BOARDED | 20020214 |
| TYPE OF DISCHARGE | (HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR) |
| DATE OF DISCHARGE | YYYYMMDD |
| DISCHARGE AUTHORITY | AR . . . . . |
| DISCHARGE REASON | |
| BOARD DECISION | DENY |
| REVIEW AUTHORITY | |
| ISSUES 1. | 107.00 |
| 2. | |
| 3. | |
| 4. | |
| 5. | |
| 6. |
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