RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:           18 November 2004
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR2004103776


      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. Joseph A. Adriance            |     |Analyst              |

      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. James C. Hise                 |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Lester Echols                 |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Hubert O. Fry                 |     |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, award of the Purple Heart (PH).

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that he received a combat related
injury to his nose and head on approximately 5 August 1945 when a Japanese
soldier hit him with the butt of his rifle.  He states he was not
hospitalized and no record was made of the injury.  He claims a medical
corpsman (MEDIC) told him it was just a broken nose after checking him for
bone damage.

3.  The applicant provides a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Statement
In Support of Claim and Separation Document (WD AGO Form 53-55) in support
of his application.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error or injustice
that occurred on 16 November 1946.  The application submitted in this case
was received on 6 February 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 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.  This case is being
considered using reconstructed records, which primarily consist of the
applicant’s separation document and an Authorization for Issuance of Awards
(DA Form 1577).

4.  The applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he was inducted into the Army
and entered active duty on 26 October 1944.  It also shows he held military
occupational specialty (MOS) 745 (Rifleman) and earned the Combat
Infantryman Badge on 1 June 1945.  He continuously served on active duty
until being honorably separated on 16 November 1946.
5.  The applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 also shows the applicant served in
the Pacific Theater of Operations (PTO) from 19 June 1945 through 7
September 1946 and that during his tenure on active duty, he earned the
Asiatic-Pacific Theater Campaign Medal with 1 bronze service star, Army
Good Conduct Medal, Army of Occupation Medal-Japan, World War II Victory
Medal and 2 Overseas Bars.

6.  Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) of the applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-
55 contains the entry “None” and the applicant authenticated the separation
document with his signature in Item 56 (Signature of Person Being
Separated).

7.  On 2 January 2004, the Director of the National Personnel Records
Center (NPRC), St. Louis, Missouri, responded to a Congressional Inquiry on
the applicant.  In this response to the applicant’s Member of Congress, the
applicant’s entitlement to the Bronze Star Medal (BSM) in addition to the
awards listed on his separation document was verified.  A DA Form 1577,
dated 10 April 2004, issued by the United States Army Soldier and
Biological Chemical Command, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, issued the
applicant all awards authorized by the NPRC.

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) prescribes the Army’s awards
policy.  Paragraph 2-8 contains guidance on awarding the PH.  It states, in
pertinent part, that each approved award of the PH must exhibit all of the
following factors: wound, injury or death must have been the result of
enemy or hostile act or international terrorist attack; the wound or injury
must have required treatment by medical officials; and the records of
medical treatment must have been made a matter of official Army records.

9.  Paragraph 3-13 of the awards regulation outlines the criteria for award
of the BSM.  It states, in pertinent part, that the BSM is authorized to
members of the Armed Forces of the United States who, after 6 December
1941, were cited in orders or awarded a certificate for exemplary conduct
in ground combat against an armed enemy between 7 December 1941 and 2
September 1945.  This paragraph also stipulates that for this purpose, an
award of the CIB is considered as a citation in orders.

10.  Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-1 (Unit Campaign Participation
Credit Register-World War II) establishes the eligibility of individual
members for campaign participation credit, assault landing credit, and unit
citation badges awarded during World War II.  This source confirms that
during his tenure of assignment, the applicant’s unit (Company C, 164th
Infantry Regiment) was awarded the Philippine Republic Presidential Unit
Citation.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant’s claim of entitlement to the PH and the supporting
documents he provides were carefully considered.  However, by regulation,
in order to support awarding a member the PH, it is necessary to establish
that a member was wounded or injured in action, that the wound required
medical treatment, and that the medical treatment was made a matter of
official record.

2.  The evidence is void of any indication that the applicant ever received
or was treated for a combat related wound/injury that would have supported
award of the PH.  Further, his WD AGO Form 53-55 contains the entry “None”
in Item 34 (Wounds Received In Action).  This entry indicates the applicant
never sustained a wound/injury as a direct result or that was caused by
enemy action.  The applicant authenticated this separation document with
his signature, thereby verifying that the information it contained, to
include the Item 34 entry, was correct at the time the document was
prepared and issued.

3.  The veracity of the applicant’s claim of entitlement to the PH is not
in question.  However, absent any evidence of record to corroborate that
the applicant sustained and/or was treated for a combat related
wound/injury, the regulatory burden of proof necessary to support award of
the PH has not been satisfied in this case.

4.  Records show the applicant should have discovered the alleged error or
injustice now under consideration on 16 November 1946.  Therefore, based on
the date the Board was established, 2 January 1947, the time for the
applicant to file a request for correction of any error or injustice
expired on 1 January 1950.  However, he 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 file.

5.  The evidence does confirm that based on his World War II service in the

PTO and his having earned the CIB, the applicant is entitled to the
following awards that are not listed on his separation document:  Bronze
Star Medal and Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation.  The
omission of these awards from his WD AGO Form 53-55 is an administrative
matter that does not require Board action to correct.  Thus, administrative
correction of his record 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

__JCH__  __HOF___  ___LE __  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

1.  The Board determined that the evidence presented does not demonstrate
the existence of a probable error or injustice related to award of the
Purple Heart.  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 did determine that there were administrative errors in the
record of the individual that should be corrected.  Therefore, the Board
requests that the CMSD-St. Louis administratively correct the records of
the individual concerned to show that based on his service in the PTO and
his having earned the Combat Infantryman Badge, he is entitled to the
Bronze Star Medal and Philippine Presidential Unit Citation; and by
providing him a corrected separation document that includes these awards.




            ____James C. Hise______
                    CHAIRPERSON




                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR2004103776                            |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |2004/11/18                              |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |HD                                      |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |1946/11/16                              |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |AR 615-365                              |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |Demobilization                          |
|BOARD DECISION          |DENY WITH NOTE                          |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |                                        |
|ISSUES         1.  61   |107.0015                                |
|2.  46                  |107.0000                                |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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