RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        26 APRIL 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20040003978


      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. Melvin Meyer                  |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Ms. Karen Heinz                   |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Lawrence Foster               |     |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 award of an additional Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states he received only one award of the Purple Heart but
was actually shot twice by Germans, 4 hours apart.  He states he was
initially shot in an upstairs room in a castle and then a second time in a
courtyard below.  He states, in effect, that he was wounded twice during a
4-day battle and should have received separate Purple Hearts.

3.  In a statement attached to his request he stated that he should be
considered for “1 or 2 additional Purple Hearts.”  He cites a unit citation
awarded to his organization for the period 24 through 28 November 1944 as
evidence.  He states his “wounds were on three occasions in the Frenzenberg
Castle” on
26 November 1944 and states that the unit citation shows that he
“participated in heavy close battles.”

4.  He states that he suffered a bullet wound in the right hip and was
treated and bandaged by one of three Soldiers who were with him.  About an
hour later he states he was on his way to relieve one of the Soldiers
watching the courtyard from a window when a loud explosion occurred.  He
states that he and other Soldiers on the second floor were blown across the
room and he lost consciousness.  He notes that when he came to he and the
other men were surround by German paratroopers and taken prisoner.  He
states that the Department of Veterans Affairs has agreed that his hearing
loss was connected to this incident.

5.  He states his third wound occurred about 10:30 PM “that night in the
courtyard of the castle as [his] German captors were attempting to force
[him] to the portion of the castle they held.”  He states he was shot
through the right shoulder and that the bullet went through him and into
the chest of the German who had captured him.  He states the German’s left
him for dead but that he ultimately regained consciousness around midnight
and crawled to the American line.

6.  The applicant provides a copy of the unit award citation detailing the
events of 24 November to 28 November 1944 by the 2nd Battalion, 47th
Infantry, and two Department of Veterans Affairs documents.




CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error or injustice
which occurred on 31 August 1945.  The application submitted in this case
is dated
22 June 2004.

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 separation document indicates that he entered active
duty on 7 April 1943 and arrived in the European Theater of Operations in
September 1944.

5.  According to a February 1945 “Distinguished Unit Badge” citation,
provided by the applicant in support of his request, the 2nd Battalion,
47th Infantry was cited for “conspicuous battle action during the five day
period between 24 November to 28 November 1944.”  The citation noted
specifically that on 26 November, the “2nd Battalion, reinforced, resumed
the attack on the castle of Frenzenberg.”  It states that:

      Since the battalion had completely broken through the enemy’s main
      line of defense, the enemy, in desperation, threw a company of
      paratroopers into the castle to halt our advance.  In the face of
      extremely heavy artillery and mortar barrages, Company “K” succeeded
      in gaining a foothold in the outer buildings of the castle, putting up
      a savage battle until “F” and “G” companies were able to force their
      way to the castle and assist them.  For two days a violent hand to
      hand battle continued in the castle, during which time the enemy
      launched repeated counter-attacks from the northeast and southeast, to
      relieve the hard pressed paratroopers holding out in the castle.  On
      the third day, the castle was completely cleared of the enemy after
      more than 60 of the defenders had been killed.

6.  The citation make note of “severe casualties from the constant heavy
barrages rained upon it and having to cross more than 5 kilometers of
heavily fortified and difficult terrain….”  It does not, however, indicate
that any American Soldiers were held captive.

7.  Files maintained by the Office of The Surgeon General, commonly
referred to as the SGO Files, indicate that the applicant was admitted to a
medical treatment facility on 27 November 1944 as a result of a “compound”
fracture to his “scapula” attributed to a “bullet, rifle.”  The document
notes the applicant was reported as a “battle casualty” and that he was
also treated for “trench foot.”

8.  He remained in a patient status until 31 August 1945 when he was
discharged based on a certificate of discharge for disability.

9.  The applicant’s separation document indicates that he was awarded the
Purple Heart for wounds sustained on 26 November 1944, that he was assigned
to Company K, 47th Infantry, and that he was entitled to a Distinguished
Unit Badge.

10.  One of the Department of Veterans Affairs documents, dated 10
September 1945, notes that the applicant was granted compensation for “left
shoulder, right leg, left arm, and trench foot conditions.”  The document
does not indicate the source of the applicant’s various conditions.  The
second document is a “Statement of Claim for Waiver of Premiums or
Continuation of Waiver of Premiums Under the National Service Life
Insurance Act of 1940” which contains a typed entry indicating that the
applicant is still disabled and that his disability is based on “bullets
left [unreadable] and rt [right] hip, resulting in restricted action left
arm.”

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.  A Purple Heart is authorized for the first wound suffered
under listed above, but not more than one award will be made for more than
one wound or injury received at the same instant or from the same missile,
force, explosion, or agent.

12.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 also provides, in pertinent part, that the
Bronze Star Medal is to be awarded to individuals who were authorized the
Combat Infantryman Badge or the Combat Medical Badge for service during
World War II.  The applicant’s separation document confirms that he was
awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge.

13.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 states that the World War II Victory Medal
was awarded for service between 7 December 1941 and 31 December 1946, both
dates inclusive.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Unfortunately, there is no medical evidence which confirms that the
applicant was wounded multiple times during separate incidents on 26
November 1944.  In the absence of such evidence, and in view of the fact
that the applicant’s recollection of the events of 26 November 1944 are not
entirely consistent with the information reflected in the unit citation,
and in themselves are inconsistent, there not sufficient compelling
evidence to warrant any additional awards of the Purple Heart.

2.  In order to justify correction of a military record the applicant must
show, 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.

3.  Records show the applicant should have discovered the alleged error or
injustice now under consideration on 31 August 1945, 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.

4.  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.



BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

__MM___  ___KH   _  ___LF___  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 entitlement to the Bronze Star Medal, based on his Combat
Infantryman Badge, and the World War II Victory Medal.


                                  ______Melvin Meyer_______
                                            CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20040003978                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20050426                                |
|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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