RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        12 JULY 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20040009062


      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. John Slone                    |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Ms. Shirley Powell                |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Stanley Kelley                |     |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 a statement included with correspondence to
his congressional representative, that he was on his way back to his bunker
after seeing several Soldiers in another bunker “sitting around in the
candle light shooting the breeze, telling lies and eating some left over
ham and lima beans
C-rations” when he was hit “from a ricochet just as [he] was going out the
door of the bunker.”  He states that it was like being hit with a baseball
bat and he fell to the floor of the trench on his hands and knees.

3.  He states that “we determined the sniper was shooting in the direction
of the sounds of talking, laughing and kidding around by the men working
out side” and that “it was totally dark and the sniper was betting on the
odds.”

4.  The applicant provides a copy of a summary of his military service in
which he notes that on 13 June 1952 he “got hit by ricochet from a sniper
during this time….”

5.  The applicant also submits a 23 June 2003 statement from an individual
who identifies himself as the unit medic.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error or injustice
which occurred on 11 March 1953.  The application submitted in this case is
dated
12 October 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 Certification of Military Service indicates that he
served on active duty between 10 July 1951 and 11 March 1953.  There were
no service medical records available to the Board, or provided by the
applicant.

5.  The statement provided by the individual who identified himself as the
unit’s medic notes that he “did witness and attended a wound” incurred by
the applicant and that “this incident” was “described as a combat related
wound, although not life threatening….”  He indicated that the applicant’s
had a “considerable gaping furrow approximately three quarters of an inch
long located above the hairline on the upper right side of his forehead”
and that the bleeding was “abated and medication was induced” but because
of flooding the applicant did not have access to the Division Aid Station.

6.  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, there is no medical evidence which confirms that the
applicant was wounded in action.  In the absence of such medical evidence,
the statement from the unit’s medic, rendered years after the fact, is
insufficient on which to base an award 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 11 March 1953; therefore, the time for
the applicant to file a request for correction of any error or injustice
expired on
10 March 1956.  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 failure to
timely file in this case.



BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

___JS___  ___SP __  ___SK __  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.




                                  ______ John Slone________
                                            CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20040009062                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20050712                                |
|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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