RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:            27 MAY 2004
      DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2004100477


      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. Kenneth H. Aucock             |     |Analyst              |


  The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. Melvin Meyer                  |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Ms Regan Smith                    |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Thomas O'Shaughnessy          |     |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).

THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant requests award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states that he was bombed, the truck blew up, and the
left side of his face was burned and his left shoulder dislocated.

3.  The applicant provides a copy of his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record
and Report of Separation – Honorable Discharge), a copy of a 10 November
1945 medical record, and a copy of a 22 March 1945 medical record.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged (error or
injustice) which occurred on 10 November 1945.  The application submitted
in this case is dated 5 November 2003.

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 limitation 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 was inducted into the Army on 28 March 1941.  He served
in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II with the
96th Engineer Combat Battalion, arriving in April 1942 and returning to the
United States in January 1945.  He was discharged on 10 November 1945 in
the rank of staff sergeant.  His report of separation does not show award
of the Purple Heart, nor indicate that he was wounded in action.  An entry
showing award of the World War II Victory Medal is not on his report of
separation.  The 96th was awarded the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation
for its actions during the applicant's assignment to that unit.  The entry
indicating that award is not on his report of separation.

4.  The applicant's medical records indicate that he was hospitalized and
treated for back pain and an urinary difficulty in 1943 in New Guinea.
While there he was subjected to frequent air raids and he noticed the onset
of his nervous manifestations.  In December 1943 he was transferred to
Sydney, Australia for training, where he had a second attack of malaria.
He was then transferred back to New Guinea, and during the next six months
was hospitalized on four occasions for recurrent attacks of malaria.  He
returned to the United States, complained of chest pain, hospitalized, and
eventually transferred to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where a tumor in
his chest was removed.  He was subsequently transferred to a hospital at
Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, where he complained of nervousness, tachycardia,
easy excitability, apprehension, and tension.  His condition was diagnosed
as anxiety state, severe, chronic, improved; external precipitating stress
of undetermined nature and stress, EPTS (existed prior to service) and
aggravated by overseas duty in Southwest Pacific with exposure to enemy
bombing for 33 months.  He was discharged because of his EPTS condition
that was aggravated while he was in the Army.

5.  A 16 August 1943 1st Evacuation Hospital medical record shows that the
applicant dislocated his left shoulder when a truck [in which he was
riding] returning from a work detail was in an accident with another truck
at 2300 hours on 16 August 1943.  That record shows that he returned to
duty on 25 August 1943.

6.  The copy of the 22 March 1945 medical record that the applicant submits
with his request contains the remark, "He gives a history of having
dislocated his left shoulder in New Guinea during an air raid attack when
the truck in which he was riding was wrecked."

7.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides 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, and the medical treatment must have
been made a matter of official record.  Enemy-related injuries which
clearly justify award of the Purple Heart are those caused by vehicle or
aircraft accident resulting from enemy fire.

8.  The Army Good Conduct Medal is awarded to individuals who distinguish
themselves by their conduct, efficiency and fidelity during a qualifying
period of active duty enlisted service.  This period is 3 years except in
those cases when the period for the first award ends with the termination
of a period of Federal military service.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Notwithstanding the 22 March 1945 medical record that the applicant
submits with his request, the evidence indicates that he injured his
shoulder in a truck accident.  There is no evidence and the applicant has
not submitted any to show that an enemy air attack precipitated the event.
The medical record prepared at the 1st Evacuation Hospital on 16 August
1943 did not state that he was wounded in action.  There is insufficient
evidence to show that he was wounded in action.  Consequently, there is no
basis for award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant served his country honorably and faithfully during his
more than four years of service.  He is entitled to award of the Army Good
Conduct Medal.
3.  The applicant is entitled to the World War II Victory Medal and the
Philippine Presidential Unit Citation.

BOARD VOTE:

___MM__  ___RS       ___TO___  GRANT RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

1.  The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to
warrant a recommendation for partial relief and to excuse failure to timely
file.  As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army
records of the individual concerned be corrected by award of the Army Good
Conduct Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, and the Philippine
Presidential Unit Citation.

2.  The Board further determined that the evidence presented is
insufficient to warrant a portion of the requested relief.  As a result,
the Board recommends denial of so much of the application that pertains to
award of the Purple Heart.





            _____Melvin Meyer_________
                    CHAIRPERSON




                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR2004100477                            |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20040527                                |
|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.       |107.00                                  |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |