RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        11 October 2006
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20060003043


      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. Dean L. Turnbull              |     |Analyst              |

      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. Patrick H. McGann             |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. David R. Gallagher            |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Roland S. Venable             |     |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 item 8 (Reason and Authority
for Separation) on his DD Form 214 (Report of Separation from the Armed
Forces of the United States) be changed.  He also requests that the entry
"For medical disqualification existing prior to entry on active service and
not aggravated by military service" be removed from item 38 (Remarks) on
his DD Form 214.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that when he was drafted he went
through a physical examination, and during the examination, he was not
rejected for a problem with his ear drum.  He stated that he was placed on
guard duty while the weather was 25 to 30 degree above zero with winds at
25 to 30 miles per hour.  That same night he awoke with a bad earache and
the next morning he was sent to the clinic.  For the next two weeks he
received 52 shots of penicillin.  He stated that the Doctor told him he had
a punctured ear drum and he sent him back to his unit to wait for his
discharge.  He stated that up until that time he was not aware that he had
a punctured ear drum.

3.  The applicant provides:

     a.  a copy of his DD Form 214; and

     b.  a copy of a U.S. Army Surgeon General Office (SGO) Hospital
Listings.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error or injustice
which occurred on 16 May 1952, the date of his discharge.  The application
submitted in this case is dated 15 February 2005; however, it was received
2 March 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 complete 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's induction medical examination is not contained in the
applicant's records.

5.  The applicant was inducted into the Army on 20 March 1952.  He was
discharged on 16 May 1952, for medical disqualification that Existed Prior
to Entry on Active Military Service (EPTS).

6.  The SGO listings shows that the applicant was diagnosed with otitis
media, suppurative, chronic, and perforation of tympanic membrane.  It
further shows these conditions were not considered to have been incurred in
line of duty and they existed prior to entry on active military service.

7.  Ear infections are one of the most common reasons parents take their
children to the doctor.  While there are different types of ear infections,
the most common is called otitis media, which means an inflammation and
infection of the middle ear.  The middle ear is located just behind the
eardrum.  Other potential complications from otitis media include:

     a.  Ruptured or perforated eardrum.

     b.  Chronic, recurrent ear infections.

     c.  Enlarged adenoids or tonsils.

     d.  Mastoiditis (an infection of the bones around the skull).

     e.  Meningitis (an infection of the brain).

     f.  Formation of an abscess or a cyst (called cholesteatoma) from
chronic, recurrent ear infections.

     g.  Speech or language delay in a child who suffers lasting hearing
loss from multiple, recurrent ear infections.

8.  The applicant was honorably discharged on 16 May 1952 for the
convenience of the Government for medical disqualification under the
provisions of Special Regulation 600-450-10.  He was considered unfit for
retention in the military service on account of a medical condition which
was considered to have existed prior to his induction and which appeared to
be not incident to or aggravated by prior or subsequent military service.
9.  Item 38 on the applicant's DD Form 214 shows the entry "For medical
disqualification existing prior to entry on active service and not
aggravated by military service."

10.  Army Regulation 635-40 governs the evaluation of physical fitness of
soldiers who may be unfit to perform their military duties because of
physical disability.  The unfitness is of such a degree that the Soldier is
unable to perform the duties of his office, grade, rank or rating in such a
way as to reasonably fulfill the purposes of his employment on active duty.
 In pertinent part, it states that according to accepted medical
principles, manifestation of lesions or symptoms of chronic disease from
date of entry on active military service (or so close to that date of entry
that the disease could not have started in so short a period) will be
accepted as proof that the disease existed prior to entrance into active
military service.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant requests that item 8 and item 38 of his DD Form 214 be
changed.

2.  While the applicant has stated that his otitis media was caused by the
adverse weather conditions when he was on guard duty, otitis media is a
common ailment in children.  It must be presumed that upon examination, the
physician treating the applicant determined that his otitis media predated
his entry on active duty.

3.  At that time of the applicant's discharge, it was determined that the
applicant's medical condition existed prior to entrance on active service
and was not incident to or aggravated by prior or subsequent military
service.  As a result, the
applicant was discharged under the provisions of Special Regulation  
600-45-10 based on a medical disqualification that existed prior to entry
in service.

4.  The Board must review a case with a presumption of regularity, that
what the Army did was correct.  It is up to the applicant to prove
otherwise.  The applicant has not submitted any documentation to overcome
the presumption of regularity.

5.  The applicant's narrative reason for separation was correct and was
applied in accordance with the applicable regulations.

6.  The applicant has failed to show through the evidence submitted or the
evidence of record that the narrative reason for separation issued to him
was in error or unjust.  Therefore, there is no basis for granting his
request.

7.  Records show the applicant should have discovered the alleged error or
injustice now under consideration on 16 May 1952; therefore, the time for
the applicant to file a request for correction of any error or injustice
expired on 15 May 1955.  The applicant 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 timely file in this case.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

___phm__  ___drg__  ___rsv___  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 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.




                                  _________Patrick H. McGann________
                                            CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20060003043                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20061011                                |
|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.                      |                                        |


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