RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        24 MARCH 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20040008973


      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             |
|     |Ms. Deborah L. Brantley           |     |Senior Analyst       |

      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. Allen Raub                    |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Ronald Blakely                |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Robert Rogers                 |     |Member               |

      The Board considered the following evidence:

      Exhibit A - Application for correction of military records.

      Exhibit B - Military Personnel Records (including advisory opinion,
if any).

THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant requests, in effect, that he be awarded the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant stated in a June 2003 application to the Board that he
was blown out of a foxhole by two concussion shells and treated at a
hospital in Naples, Italy.  He stated that he was knocked out and landed in
a canal where he remained for hours.  He stated all of the blood was washed
away.

3.  The applicant provided a copy of what appeared to be a Western Union
Telegram and a copy of a 1948 letter awarding him the Bronze Star Medal.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error or injustice
which occurred on 6 January 1946.  The application submitted in this case
was originally submitted in June 2003 but recent correspondence was
received in September 2004.  The applicant's previous requests were closed
administratively because of the lack of available military personnel
records.

2.  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.  This provision of law allows the Army
Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) to excuse failure to file
within the 3-year statute of limitations if the ABCMR determines that it
would be in the interest of justice to do so.  In this case, the ABCMR will
conduct a review of the merits of the case to determine if it would be in
the interest of justice to excuse the applicant’s failure to timely file.

3.  The applicant’s military records are not available to the Board for
review.  A fire destroyed approximately 18 million service members’ records
at the National Personnel Records Center in 1973.  It is believed that the
applicant’s records were lost or destroyed in that fire.  However, there
were sufficient documents remaining in a reconstructed record for the Board
to conduct a fair and impartial review of this case.

4.  The applicant's War Department Adjutant General Form 53-55 (Enlisted
Record and Report of Separation) indicates that the applicant was inducted
in May 1943 and entered active duty in June 1943.  He arrived in the
European Theater of Operation in November 1943 and returned to the United
States in December 1945.  On 6 January 1946 he was honorably discharged as
a result of demobilization.

5.  Item 34 (wounds received in action) on the applicant's separation
document reflects "NONE."  The applicant authenticated the accuracy of the
information on his separation document with his signature and thumb print.

6.  There were no service medical records available to the Board or
provided by the applicant.  There were also no file in the records of the
Office of The Surgeon General, commonly referred to as the SGO File, which
indicated that the applicant had ever been treated for any wounds incurred
as a result of hostile action during World War II.

7.  The telegram provided by the applicant with his original application to
the Board is nearly unreadable.  While the one line, which is clearly
readable states "you will be advised as reports of condition are received,"
no identifying information concerning a name or date of issuance is
readable.  A second document, which appears to be a card acknowledging
receipt of a communication by The Adjutant General also contained no
identification information but does appear to pertain to an award.

8.  In July 1948 the applicant was issued a Bronze Star Medal for
"exemplary conduct in ground combat" on or about 1 February 1944 in the
European Theater of Operations.

9.  The applicant's original final pay voucher, which has always been
available to the Board, indicates that the applicant was in receipt of
combat infantry pay at the time of his separation from active.  Although
his separation document does not reflect award of the Combat Infantryman
Badge, the applicant would have had to be awarded the badge in order to
receive combat infantry pay.  World War II holders of the Combat
Infantryman Badge received a monthly pay supplement known as combat
infantry pay.

10.  World War II holders of the Combat Infantryman Badge are entitled to
an award of the Bronze Star Medal.  An award of the Bronze Star Medal based
on a Combat Infantryman Badge is commonly referred to as a conversion
award.  The letter awarding the applicant the Bronze Medal in 1948 makes
reference to a General Order issued by the 157th Infantry on 15 November
1944.  The
15 November 1944 order was likely the vehicle which awarded the applicant
the Combat Infantryman Badge and the July 1948 letter awarding the
applicant the Bronze Star Medal was likely a conversion award based on the
applicant's Combat Infantryman Badge.

11.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, 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.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Unfortunately the documents provided by the applicant in his original
2003 application to the Board do not confirm that the applicant was wounded
as a result of hostile action during World War II and there is no medical
evidence available which confirms any combat incurred wounds.  In the
absence of such medical evidence, there is no basis for an award of the
Purple Heart.

2.  Evidence shows that the applicant’s records contain administrative
error which does not require action by the Board.  Therefore,
administrative correction of the applicant’s records will be accomplished
by the Case Management Support Division (CMSD), St. Louis, Missouri, as
outlined by the Board in paragraph 3 of the BOARD
DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION section below.

3.  Records show the applicant should have discovered the alleged error or
injustice now under consideration on 6 June 1946, the date of his
separation from active duty.  However, the ABCMR was not established until
2 January 1947.  As a result, the time for the applicant to file a request
for correction of any error or injustice expired on 1 January 1950.
However, the applicant did not file within the 3-year statute of
limitations and has not provided a compelling explanation or evidence to
show that it would be in the interest of justice to excuse the failure to
timely file.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

___AR   _  ___RB __  ___RR __  DENY APPLICATION



BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

1.  The Board determined that the evidence presented does not demonstrate
the existence of a probable error or injustice.  Therefore, the Board
determined that the overall merits of this case are insufficient as a basis
for correction of the records of the individual concerned.

2.  As a result, the Board further determined that there is no evidence
provided which shows that it would be in the interest of justice to excuse
the applicant's failure to timely file this application within the 3-year
statute of limitations prescribed by law.  Therefore, there is insufficient
basis to waive the statute of limitations for timely filing or for
correction of the records of the individual concerned.

3.  The Board determined that administrative error in the records of the
individual should be corrected.  Therefore, the Board requests that the
CMSD-St. Louis administratively correct the records of the individual
concerned to show award of the Combat Infantryman Badge and the Bronze Star
Medal.


                                  ______  Allen Raub________
                                            CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20040008973                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20050324                                |
|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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