RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:          22 December 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20050007624


      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. Wanda L. Waller               |     |Analyst              |


      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. Ted Kanamine                  |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Robert Duecaster              |     |Member               |
|     |Ms. Jeanette McPherson            |     |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, he was wounded in action on 22 October
1944.

3.  The applicant provides a copy of his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record
and Report of Separation) and a Separation Qualification Record.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error which
occurred on
18 October 1945.  The application submitted in this case is dated 12 May
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 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.  The applicant was inducted on 7 July 1943 and entered active duty on
28 July 1943.  He served in the Southwest Pacific Theater of Operations
from
4 February 1944 through 19 December 1944 and was honorably discharged with
a certificate of disability on 18 October 1945.

5.  Item 32 (Battles and Campaigns) on the applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55
shows he participated in two battles and campaigns.  His WD AGO Form 53-55
shows the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, and the
Philippine Liberation Ribbon with one bronze service star as authorized
awards.  Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) on his WD AGO Form 53-55 shows
he was wounded in the shoulder on 22 October 1944 in Leyte.  His WD AGO
Form 53-55 shows the Combat Infantryman Badge.   His WD AGO Form 53-55 also
shows that he served 1 year, 3 months, and 24 days of continental service.


6.  There are no orders for the Purple Heart in the available records.
However, the Office of The Surgeon General Hospital List shows the
applicant was hospitalized on 22 October 1944 in the Southwest Pacific as a
battle casualty (shoulder wound).

7.  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.

8.  Army Regulation 600-45 (Decorations), effective 13 October 1949,
provided in pertinent part, that the Bronze Star Medal is authorized for
each individual who was cited in orders or awarded a certificate for
exemplary conduct in ground combat between 7 December 1941 and 2 September
1945 or whose achievement or service, during that period, was confirmed by
documents executed prior to 1 July 1947.  An award of the Combat
Infantryman Badge or the Combat Medical Badge is considered to be a
citation in orders.  This means, in effect, that the Bronze Star Medal is
to be awarded to individuals who were authorized either badge for service
during World War II.

9.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 authorizes a bronze service star, based on
qualifying service, for each campaign listed in Appendix B of this
regulation or listed in item 32 (Battles and Campaigns) of the WD AGO Form
53-55.

10.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, for award of the
World War II Victory Medal.  It is awarded for service between 7 December
1941 and 31 December 1946, both dates inclusive.

11.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, for award of the
American Campaign Medal.  This campaign medal is awarded for qualifying
service in the American Theater between 7 December 1941 and 2 March 1946.
Qualifying service includes permanent assignment outside the continental
United States, duty as a crewmember aboard a vessel sailing ocean waters
for 30 consecutive or 60 nonconsecutive days, or duty outside the
continental United States as a passenger or in a temporary duty status for
30 consecutive or 60 nonconsecutive days, or active combat against the
enemy and was awarded a combat decoration or furnished a certificate by a
corps commander or higher, or service within the continental United States
for an aggregate period of one year.




DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The medical evidence of record which shows the applicant was wounded as
a result of hostile action on 22 October 1944 in the Southwest  Pacific is
accepted as sufficient evidence on which to base award of the Purple Heart
in this case.  Therefore, he is entitled to award of the Purple Heart and
correction of his WD AGO Form 53-55 to show this award.

2.  Based on the Combat Infantryman Badge, the applicant is entitled to
award of the Bronze Star Medal.

3.  The applicant participated in two campaigns during World War II which
entitles him to award of the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with two bronze
service stars.

4.  The applicant served a period of qualifying service for award of the
World War II Victory Medal.

5.  The applicant served a period of qualifying service for award of the
American Campaign Medal.

6.  Records show the applicant should have discovered the alleged error now
under consideration on 18 October 1945; therefore, the time for the
applicant to file a request for correction of any error or injustice
expired on 1 January 1950
(3 years after the Board was established on 2 January 1947).  Although the
applicant did not file within the ABCMR's statute of limitations, it is
appropriate to waive failure to timely file based on the fact there is no
statute of limitations on requests for award of the Purple Heart.

BOARD VOTE:

TK_____  _RD____  _JM_____  GRANT RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to warrant
a recommendation for relief and to excuse failure to timely file.  As a
result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the
individual concerned be corrected by:

      a.  awarding him the Purple Heart for wounds received in action on
22 October 1944 in the Southwest Pacific Theater of Operations; and

      b.  amending his WD AGO Form 53-55 to add award of the Purple Heart
and to show that he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal (based on award of
the Combat Infantryman Badge), the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with two
bronze service stars, the World War II Victory Medal, and the American
Campaign Medal.



            _____Ted Kanamine_____
                    CHAIRPERSON




                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20050007624                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |20051222                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |                                        |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |GRANT PLUS                              |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |                                        |
|ISSUES         1.       |107.0015                                |
|2.                      |107.0000                                |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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