RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:         7 July 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20040007677


      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. David S. Griffin              |     |Analyst              |

      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. Melvin H. Meyer               |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Eric N. Andersen              |     |Member               |
|     |Ms. Carol A. Kornhoff             |     |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 the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that he suffered a shell fragment
wound (SFW) to his stomach in Ardennes, France in January 1944.  He further
states that the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) Regional Office in
Oakland has proof of medical treatment and that he is 10 percent disabled
for this injury.

3.  The applicant provides a copy of his WG AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record
and Report of Separation, Honorable Discharge) with a date of separation of
16 November 1945 and his Honorable Discharge Certificate, dated 16 November
1945.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error, which
occurred on 16 November 1945.  The application submitted in this case is
dated 8 September 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 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’s military personnel records were not available and may
have been lost or destroyed in a fire at the National Personnel Records
Center in 1973.  However, there were sufficient documents for the ABCMR to
conduct a fair and impartial review of this case.  The primary records
available to the ABCMR, which were provided by the applicant, are the
applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 and his Honorable Discharge Certificate.

4.  The available records show the applicant was inducted on 12 February
1943 and entered into active service on 19 February 1943.  He was awarded
the military occupational specialty 745 (rifleman).  He served in the
European-African-Middle Eastern Theater during the period from 9 November
1944 to 11 August 1945.  He was discharged on 16 November 1945.  He had
served 2 years, 8 months, and 28 days of active service characterized as
honorable.

5.  The applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 which he authenticated in his own
hand, does not show the award of the Purple Heart in Item 33 (Decorations
and Citations).  Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) contains the entry
"None."

6.  A review of the applicant's records shows that he is entitled to
additional awards, which are not listed on any of his records or his report
of separation.

7.  Item 32 (Battles and Campaigns) of the applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55
shows that he participated in the Rhineland Campaign (15 September 1944 -
21 March 1945), the Ardennes-Alsace Campaign (16 December 1944 -
25 January 1945) and the Central Europe Campaign (22 March - 11 May 1945).

8.  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, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of
official record.

9.  Title 38, United States Code, permits the DVA to award compensation for
a medical condition which was incurred in or aggravated by active military
service.  The DVA, in accordance with its own policies and regulations,
awards compensation solely on the basis that a medical condition exists and
that said medical condition reduces or impairs the social or industrial
adaptability of the individual concerned.

10.  Army Regulation 600-8-22, in pertinent part, authorizes award of the
bronze service star, based on qualifying service, for each campaign listed
in Appendix B of this regulation or in Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-
1.  The regulations state that authorized bronze service stars will be worn
on the appropriate service medal, which in this case is the European-
African-Middle Eastern Theater Campaign Medal.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant contends that he should be awarded the Purple Heart.

2.  He further contends that the DVA has proof of medical treatment and
that he is 10 percent disabled for this injury.  Copies of this medical
treatment were not available for the Board to review.

3.  While the DVA may have determined the applicant's medical condition was
related to his military service, the DVA does not make a determination as
to whether a medical condition was as a result of hostile action.
4.  In the absence of military records, which show the applicant was
wounded or injured or treated for wounds or injuries as a result of hostile
action, there is insufficient basis for award of the Purple Heart in this
case.

5.  The applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 shows that he participated in three
campaigns during his service in World War II.  Therefore, he is entitled to
three bronze service stars to be worn on his European-African-Middle
Eastern Theater Campaign Medal.

6.  Records show the applicant should have discovered the error or
injustice now under consideration on 16 November 1945, the date of his
separation from active duty.  However, the ABCMR was not established until
2 January 1947.  Therefore, the time for the applicant to file a request
for correction of any error or injustice expired on 1 January 1950.
Although the applicant did not file within the ABCMR's statute of
limitations, it is appropriate to waive failure to timely file in this case
based on the fact there is no statute of limitations on requests for award
of the Purple Heart.

7.  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 2 of the BOARD
DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION section below.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

__MHM__  __CAK__  __ENA __  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

1.  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.  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 three bronze service stars to be worn on his
European-African-Middle Eastern Theater Campaign Medal.




                                      ___Melvin H. Meyer____
                                            CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20040007677                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20050707                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)    |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |AR . . . . .                            |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |(NC, GRANT , DENY, GRANT PLUS)          |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |                                        |
|ISSUES         1.       |                                        |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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