RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        12 January 2006
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20050005733


      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. Linda D. Simmons              |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Rodney E. Barber              |     |Member               |
|     |Ms. Rea M. Nuppenau               |     |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 on 21 January 1945, his right ear
drum was blown out while riding on the back bumper of a jeep when the
jeep's right rear wheel was blown off because of a German land mine.  The
applicant states that this has resulted in hearing loss to his right ear.

3.  The applicant provides a copy of:

      a.  his Honorable Discharge Certificate, dated 3 December 1945;

      b.  his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation,
Honorable Discharge) with a date of separation of 3 December 1945;

      c.  the applicant's activities during World War II that was taken
from the World War II Memorial Registry.  This information was entered on
the Registry by a good friend of the applicant; and

      d.  a book excerpt from Order of Battle U.S. Army, World War II
showing
Mr. S----y L. S-----n's accounts of the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment's
service during World War II.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error which
occurred
on 3 December 1945, the date of his discharge.  The application submitted
in this case is dated 16 September 2004, and was received on 14 April 2005.

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 personnel records were lost or destroyed in a
fire at the National Personnel Records Center in 1973.  The records
available to the ABCMR were provided in part by the applicant and also
obtained from alternate sources.  The primary record available to this
Board is the applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55.

4.  The available records show the applicant was inducted on 29 May 1942,
and entered on active duty on that date.  He served in the European Theater
of Operations during the period from 18 December 1943 to 16 November 1945.

He was discharged on 3 December 1945, due to demobilization.  He had served
3 years, 6 months, and 5 days of active service that was 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.  There are no orders in the available records for award of the Purple
Heart.

7.  A health record research project, commonly referred to as the "SGO
Files", involved transposing the hospital admission card data from the
periods of World War II and the Korean War onto magnetic tape.  These files
show that the applicant was hospitalized in November 1944 in England,
Wales, Scotland, Ireland and/or the European Area with a diagnosis of
mumps.

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.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

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

2.  The information placed on the World War II Memorial Registry is not
supported by corroborating evidence.

3.  Although the excerpt from Order of Battle U.S. Army, World War II
provides a detailed account of the applicant's unit's activities, it does
not provide evidence that the applicant was wounded as a result of hostile
action.

4.  The information provided in the third party statements provided by the
applicant were carefully considered.  However, given the lack of any
corroborating evidence of record and the applicant's own signature
authenticating that he received no wounds in action, these statements
alone, over 60 years after the fact, are not sufficient as the basis for
award of the Purple Heart.

5.  Therefore, in the absence of military records which show that the
applicant was wounded or treated for wounds resulting from hostile action,
there is insufficient evidence upon which to base award of the Purple Heart
in this case.

6.  Records show the applicant should have discovered the alleged error or
injustice now under consideration on 3 December 1945, the date of his
separation from active duty.  However, the ABCMR was not established until
2 January 1947.  As a result, the time for the applicant to file a request
for correction of any error or injustice expired on 2 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.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

___lds___  ___rmn__  ___reb__  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

1.  The Board determined that it is appropriate to waive failure  to  timely
file in this case.

2.  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.





                                  _____Linda D. Simmons___
                                            CHAIRPERSON

                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20050005733                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20060112                                |
|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.       |                                        |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


-----------------------
[pic]