PROCEEDINGS


         IN THE CASE OF:
        

         BOARD DATE: 30 July 2002
         DOCKET NUMBER: AR2002070038


         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.

Mr. Carl W. S. Chun		Director
Mr. W. E. Schnupp		Analyst

The following members, a quorum, were present:

Mr. Arthur A. Omartian		Chairperson
Ms. Karen A. Heinz		Member
Mr. Thomas Lanyi		Member

         The applicant and counsel if any, did not appear before the Board.

         The Board considered the following evidence:

         Exhibit A - Application for correction of military
records
         Exhibit B - Military Personnel Records (including
         advisory opinion, if any)

FINDINGS :

1. The applicant has exhausted or the Board has waived the requirement for exhaustion of all administrative remedies afforded by existing law or regulations.

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2. The applicant requests reconsideration of that portion of his previous application, which denied his request to change his height to reflect 5 feet 8 inches instead of 5 feet 5 inches and his place of birth as “Norristown” instead of “Morristown” on his WD AGO Form 53-55, Enlisted Record and Report of Separation. He further requests that his record be changed to show a right knee injury in item 34 (wounds received in action); to show award of the Purple Heart for wounds received on 2 April 1945; to show entitlement to the bronze arrowhead device indicating an assault landing; to show award of the Bronze Star Medal based on VII Corps General Order #30 dated 24 April 1945 and to show entitlement to the American Defense Service Medal.

3. In support of his request, he submits a copy of a letter from the Army Review Boards Agency (ARBA), Screening Team, which advised him that his place of birth would be changed if he submitted a copy of his birth certificate and that his recorded height would be changed based on his word; a certified copy of his birth certificate; a letter from the Norristown Orthopaedic Associates, Inc. describing the injury and subsequent treatment to his right knee; a handwritten autobiographical note describing the awards to which he believes he is entitled and the medical treatment he received during his service and a copy of a certification of awards issued by Headquarters, 13^th Field Artillery (FA), Observation Battalion (Bn.) listing the awards he is authorized.

4. The applicant states, through his counsel, that he has submitted all of the documentation available to him; that he did not receive his complete military file when he was discharged and that his military records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973. He contends that he was not responsible for the security of the records lost in the fire, therefore, he should not be penalized by having certain of his requests to have corrections made to his military records denied when he has provided all of the documentation in support of his request that is available to him.

5. Incorporated herein by reference are military records, which were summarized in a memorandum prepared to reflect the Board’s original consideration of his case on 11 May 2000 (AR200036064).

6. In its original consideration of this case, the Board approved that portion of his application correcting his birth date, crediting him with participation in the Central Europe Campaign, correcting his records to show one silver service star for his European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal and showing that he was awarded the Army of Occupation Medal with Germany Clasp.

7. The documents he has provided with his current application represent new information that requires consideration by the Board.


8. The letter he submits from the ARBA, Screening Team, advised him that his height would be corrected based on his word, and that the place of birth entry on his WD AGO Form 53-55, would be corrected if he would submit a copy of his birth certificate. In response to that letter, the applicant has provided a copy of the certification of birth showing that he was born in the borough of “Norristown.”

9. The medical evidence he provides, from the Norristown Orthopaedic Associates, Inc., describes the evaluation and treatment of his right knee by his civilian physician. The letter refers to the fact that his knee was traumatized in the war and sustained significant war related injury. Based on this information, the applicant apparently believes that item 34 (wounds received in action) of his WD AGO Form 53-55 should be corrected to show an entry regarding his right knee injury.

10. Information from the hospital admission cards created by The Office of the Surgeon General (OSG) for the year 1945 shows that the applicant was admitted to a medical treatment facility on 13 July 1945, for treatment of an injury that existed prior to entry on active duty that was termed “internal derangement of knee.” There is no reference to a knee injury sustained in action with the enemy on 2 April 1945.

11. The applicant contends that he is entitled to the bronze arrowhead device indicating that he participated in an assault landing. Department of the Army directives show that Detachment A, of the 13^th FA, Observation Bn. was the only 13^th FA, Observation Bn., unit awarded assault landing credit during World War II. There is no evidence showing that the applicant was assigned to Detachment A. Rather, the record shows that he was assigned to Headquarters (HQ) Battery, 13^th FA, Observation Bn.

12. The applicant also maintains that he is authorized the Bronze Star Medal, awarded per VII Corps General Orders #30. However, other than a general statement of awards listed on a Headquarters, 13^th FA, Observation Bn., Certification of Awards, dated 21 October 1945, there is no evidence (or copy of General Orders #30) to show that he is authorized the Bronze Star Medal.

13. Technical Manual 12-235, Discharge Procedures and Preparation of Separation Forms, the guidance then in effect, provides a description of entries to be made on the WD AGO Form 53-55. Entries will adhere as closely as possible to examples presented to insure uniformity in execution of the forms. Items, which have been omitted, are considered to be self-explanatory. The manual contains no instructions for completing items 11 (place of birth) or 15 (height) on the WD AGO Form 53-55.



14. Army Regulation 600-8-22, Military Awards, provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound 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.

15. The same regulation provides for award of the:

         a. Bronze Star Medal to any person who, while serving in any capacity in or with the Army of the United States after 6 December 1941, distinguished himself by heroic or meritorious achievement or service, not involving participation in aerial flight, in connection with military operations against an armed enemy; or while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party.

         b. American Defense Service Medal for service between 8 September 1939 and 7 December 1941, under orders to active duty for a period of 12 months or longer.

c. Arrowhead device – Assault landing credit to denote participation in a combat parachute jump, helicopter assault landing, combat glider landing or amphibious assault landing, while assigned or attached as a member of an organized force carrying out an assigned tactical mission. A soldier must actually exit the aircraft or watercraft, as appropriate, to receive assault credit. Individual assault credit is tied directly to the combat assault credit decision for the unit to which the soldier is attached or assigned at the time of the assault. Should a unit be denied assault credit, no assault credit will accrue to the individual soldiers of that unit.

16. Department of the Army (DA) Pamphlet 672-1, Unit Citation and Campaign Participation Credit Register, shows that only Detachment A, 13^th FA, Observation Bn., was awarded assault-landing credit for Normandy, 6-7 June 1944. The applicant’s unit, Headquarters Battery, 13^th FA, Observation Bn. was not so honored.

CONCLUSIONS:

1. The letter to the applicant from the ARBA, Screening Team advised him that his height would be changed on his separation document based on his word. The Board believes that in the absence of any regulatory guidance to the contrary for entering such information on the separation document, the Board should honor this statement. Accordingly, the 5 feet 5 inch height listed in item 15 of his WD AGO Form 53-55, should be corrected to read 5 feet 8 inches.

2. Furthermore, based on the information contained in the Certificate of Birth that he submitted with his current application, his place of birth, item 11 of WD AGO Form 53-55, should be changed from “Morristown” to “Norristown.”

3. The evidence submitted by the applicant to support his contention that he is entitled to the Purple Heart for wounds suffered on 2 April 1945, to his right knee, does not meet the standards for award of the Purple Heart. The letter from the Norristown Orthopaedic Associates, Inc., dated 14 September 2001, does not establish that his wounds were sustained as a result of action with hostile forces or that he was ever treated for a combat related injury. In fact, the OSG documentary evidence concerning treatment of his knee injury shows that he was treated for a preexisting internal derangement condition of his right knee and not a combat injury. Accidental injuries that are not directly attributable to an act of the enemy, even though they may occur in a combat zone, are not considered wounds received in action and do not entitle the individual to the Purple Heart.

4. The DA Unit Citation and Campaign Participation Credit Register does not show that the applicant’s unit of assignment, HQ Battery, 13^th FA, Observation Bn., was awarded the bronze arrowhead device for an assault landing. Thus, he is not entitled to assault landing credit.

5. Likewise, the DA awards regulation specifies the period for which the American Defense Service Medal was authorized as 8 September 1939 through 7 December 1941. Since the applicant did not enter active duty until15 December 1942, he is clearly not eligible for the award.

6. Finally, in the absence of something more definitive than the vague reference to VII Corps General Order #30, as authority for the Bronze Star Medal, there is insufficient evidence to award the Bronze Star Medal.

7. In view of the foregoing, the applicant’s records should be corrected as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

1. That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by:

         a. showing in item 11 of WD AGO Form 53-55 of the individual concerned that his place of birth was Norristown; and





         b. showing in item 15 of WD AGO Form 53-55 that he was 5 feet 8 inches tall.

2. That so much of the application as is in excess of the foregoing be denied.

BOARD VOTE:

___kah__ ___aao__ ___tl____ GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION




                  _________Arthur A. Omartian__
                  CHAIRPERSON

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INDEX

CASE ID	AR2002070038
SUFFIX
RECON	YYYYMMDD
DATE BOARDED	20020730
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .
DISCHARGE REASON
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)
REVIEW AUTHORITY
ISSUES 1. 100.00
2. 100.08
3.
4.
5.
6.