RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:               OCTOBER 14, 2004
      DOCKET NUMBER:       AR2004100965


      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. Luis Almodova                 |     |Analyst              |

      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. Fred Eichorn                  |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Ms. Linda Simmons                 |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Richard Dunbar                |     |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, in effect, that the Silver Star and the Purple
Heart be awarded to her deceased father, a former service member (FSM).

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that her father should have been
awarded the Silver Star and the Purple Heart but through an oversight,
never were.

3.  The applicant provides a copy of her birth certificate to establish her
relationship and to establish proper interest; a copy of her father's death
certificate; and two copies of her father's WD AGO Form 53-55, Enlisted
Record and Report of Separation – Honorable Discharge.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged injustice that
occurred on 19 January 1946.  The application submitted in this case is
dated 3 January 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 FSM's military records were lost or destroyed in the National
Personnel Records Center fire of 1973.  Information herein was obtained
from reconstructed personnel records.

4.  The applicant’s request for award of the Silver Star to her father is
outside the statute of limitations on approval of award recommendations for
actions during World War II.  However, the applicant’s request for this
award can be considered under the provisions of Title 10, United States
Code, Section 1130, which governs consideration of awards not submitted
within time limits established by law.  The applicant must exhaust this
remedy before the ABCMR will consider this portion of her request and she
has been so notified by separate

correspondence.  Therefore, consideration of award of the Silver Star to
the FSM will not be discussed further in this Record of Proceedings.

5.  The FSM's WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he was inducted on 9 October 1943 and
entered service on 30 October 1943 in Indianapolis, Indiana.  The applicant
was honorably discharged, under the provisions of Army Regulation (AR) 615-
365, for the convenience of the Government, at demobilization, in the grade
of Technician Fourth Grade, on 19 January 1946.

6.  The FSM's WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he was awarded the European-African-
Middle Eastern Theater Ribbon [correctly knows as the European-African-
Middle Eastern Campaign Medal], with two bronze service stars; the Good
Conduct Medal; and the World War II Victory Medal.  The Purple Heart is not
shown on the WD AGO Form 53-55.

7.  Item 30 (Military Occupational Specialty and No.), of the applicant's
WD AGO Form 53-55, shows the applicant was a Light Tank Crewman, military
occupational specialty (MOS), 1736.

8.  Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action), of the applicant's WD AGO Form
53-55, shows the entry, "None."

9.  Item 36 (Service Outside Continental U.S. and Return) shows that the
applicant departed the United States on 2 May 1944 and arrived in NATO
(North Atlantic Theater of Operations) on 21 May 1944.  He departed NATO on
24 May 1944 and arrived in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) on 27
May 1944.  The applicant departed the ETO on 3 January 1946 and arrived in
the United States on 15 January 1946.

10.  The applicant authenticated the WD AGO Form 53-55 in his own hand on
the date of his discharge from the Army, attesting that the information
recorded on the form was, to the best of his knowledge, accurate and
complete.

11.  The WD AGO Form 53-55 that the applicant submitted in support of her
request show the following distinct differences from the copy that is on
file in the FSM's reconstructed records:

      a. two entries, to include one that reads, "Later recieve (sic) Purple
Heart," in Item 33, appear to have been added after the form was completed,
signed,

distributed, and recorded at Marion County Courthouse (at 11:55 a.m. on
16 March 1948, Volume 94, pages 431 and 432), in Indiana.  The size and
the style of the font are conspicuously different.

      b.  The entries which appear to have been added to the WD AGO Form 53-
55 are not in conformance with the guidelines set forth in War Department
Technical Manual (TM) 12-235.

      c. what appears to be a file registration number (141466) appears in
the upper right hand corner of the WD AGO Form 53-55.

      d. the copy of the WD AGO Form 53-55 has fold/crease marks which
indicate that it was folded for safekeeping and as a constant reference.

12.  A health record research project, which involved transposing hospital
admission card data from the periods of World War II and the Korean
conflict onto magnetic tape, which the National Research Council made
available to the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in 1988, commonly
referred to as the "SGO Files," were searched for any evidence that the
applicant was wounded in action during World War II.  No evidence was found
in these files that the FSM was wounded in action during World War II.

13.  AR 600-8-22 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:  (a) the wound was
the result of hostile action; (b) the wound required medical treatment; and
(c) the medical treatment was made a matter of official record.

14.  The FSM's medical records are not available for review, and the
applicant provided none and in addition, she provided no details with
regards to the type of wound her father sustained, the date of the action,
the general geographical location, and the unit to which he was assigned at
the time he was wounded.

15.  TM 12-235 provides, in pertinent part, that the report of separation
is completed from information recorded on the Soldier's Service Record,
Soldier Qualification Card, Immunization Register and information
ascertained by interview with the dischargee.  An illustration in this TM
shows that only the title of an award or decoration will be entered.  No
other information is shown.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  There is no evidence, and the applicant submitted none, to establish
that her father, a FSM, was wounded in action during World War II.

2.  The entry showing award of the Purple Heart on the WD AGO Form 53-55,
that the applicant alleges her father should have been awarded, appears to
have been added after the form was completed, signed, distributed, and
recorded in the FSM's home county.

3.  The entries made are not in accordance with guidelines established for
the completion/correction of WD AGO Form 53-55 that were in effect at the
time of the FSM's discharge.  The FSM is therefore not entitled to be
awarded the Purple Heart and to have it added to his WD AGO Form 53-55 at
this time.

4.  Records show the FSM should have discovered the alleged error or
injustice now under consideration on 19 January 1946; therefore, the time
for the FSM to file a request for correction of any error or injustice
expired on 18 January 1949.  However, the FSM did not file within the 3-
year statute of limitations and the FSM's daughter 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

rd______  fe ______  ls  ______  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 FSM's records.
2.  As a result, the Board further determined that there is no evidence
which shows that it would be in the interest of justice to excuse the FSM'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
FSM's records.




            _____Fred Eichorn_____
                    CHAIRPERSON


                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR2004100965                            |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |20041014                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |                                        |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |DENY                                    |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |                                        |
|ISSUES         1.  46   |107.0000                                |
|2.  61                  |107.0015                                |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |



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