| Mr. Carl W. S. Chun | Director | |
| Ms. Deborah L. Brantley | Senior Analyst |
| Mr. Fred N. Eichorn | Chairperson | |
| Mr. John P. Infante | Member | |
| Ms. Karen A. Heinz | Member |
THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE:
1. The applicant requests award of the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states he lost his original Purple Heart medal and has attempted to have it replaced previously. He notes that his records were destroyed in a fire and the only evidence he has are copies of unit morning and sick reports confirming that he was wounded on 2 March 1944 on the Anzio Beachhead in the line of duty.
3. The applicant provides a self-authored statement and copies of the unit morning and sick reports.
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. The applicant is requesting correction of error which occurred in 1945. The application submitted in this case is dated 8 March 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’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. In his self-authored statement, the applicant indicates that he was inducted on 31 December 1942 and was discharged on 19 October 1945. He indicated he was assigned to B Battery, 9th Field Artillery Battalion and was wounded on
2 March 1944.
5. Documents provided by the applicant confirm that he was assigned to Battery B, 9th Field Artillery Battalion in 1944. The daily sick reports are confusing in that they indicate that he was “taken sick” on 2 March 1944 and was hospitalized as of 4 March 1944. However, another report indicates that he was “taken sick” on
2 March 1944 and returned to duty that same day.
6. There is however, a company morning report which was prepared on 4 March 1944 which indicated that the applicant went from duty to absent sick on 4 March 1944. A “Record of Events” notation indicates that on 4 March 1944 the unit was in position and fired 43 rounds and “enemy guns, interdiction.” It stated the unit tractor took a “direct hit…by enemy artillery…putting tractor out of commission.” It stated that the applicant was hospitalized for shell fragment wounds. The notation is difficult to read, however, it appears to confirm that the applicant was hospitalized for shell fragment wounds on 2 March 1944, in spite of the fact that the morning report changed his duty status on 4 March 1944.
7. Company morning reports indicated that the applicant was subsequently transferred to another medical facility on 11 March 1944.
8. There were no service medical records available to the Board, although the applicant did provide evidence that he is receiving disability pay in the amount of $104.00 per month from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
9. 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:
Unit documents provided by the applicant appear to confirm that he was hospitalized as a result of sustaining shell fragment wounds in March 1944. The fact that the unit reports note the applicant’s shell fragment wounds on the same document which discusses the unit’s involvement with enemy artillery, supports a conclusion that the applicant was in fact wounded as a result of hostile action. As such, it would be appropriate to award the applicant a Purple Heart.
BOARD VOTE:
__FNE __ ___JPI __ ___KAH _ GRANT RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION
| CASE ID | AR2004100910 |
| SUFFIX | |
| RECON | YYYYMMDD |
| DATE BOARDED | 20040205 |
| 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. |
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