RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        11 October 2006
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20060004249


      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. W. W. Osborn, Jr.             |     |Analyst              |

      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. Patrick H. McGann, Jr.        |     |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 that he be awarded the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states he received a gunshot wound in the left arm, but
never received the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant provides a copy of his 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 error or injustice
which occurred on 17 May 1946, the date of his separation from active duty.
 The application submitted in this case is dated 9 March 2006.

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 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.  In addition to
the documents he submitted, only the Final Payment-Work Sheet and one SGO
File record is available.

4.   The applicant was inducted and entered active duty on 14 April 1943.
He departed the United States for the European Theater of Operations on
10 October 1944.  The WD AGO Form 53-55 lists his organization as C
Battery, 549th Antiaircraft Artillery (AAA) Automatic Weapons Battalion
(Mobile).

5.  The single SGO record indicates he sustained a non-combat broken leg on
24 February 1945 as a member of an AAA unit and was invalided home,
arriving in the United States on 29 May 1945.

6.  He was separated on a certificate of disability for discharge on 17 May
1946.  His military qualifications included the Marksman Marksmanship
Qualification Badge.  He received campaign participation credit for the
Rhineland and the Ardennes-Alsace campaigns and his decorations and
citations included the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with
two bronze service stars and the American Campaign Medal.  He was issued an
Army Lapel Button.

7.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides, in pertinent part,
that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained while in action
against an enemy or 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 by a medical officer, and the
medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

8.  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 conflict onto magnetic tape.  In
1988 the National Research Council made these tape files available to the
National Personnel Records Center (NPRC).  The availability of the
information to the NPRC received considerable publicity by the various
veteran service organizations.  It was widely believed that these tapes
would become a valuable substitute for the records lost in the NPRC fire of
1973.  Searches of these files fail to show that the applicant was wounded
or injured as a result of enemy action.

9.  The applicant was qualified to receive awards that were not included on
his WD AGO Form 53-55.  These include:

      a.  The World War II Victory Medal was established by the act of
Congress 6 July 1945.  It is awarded for service between 7 December 1941
and 31 December 1946, both dates inclusive.

      b.  Army Pamphlet 672-1, Unit Citation and Campaign Credit Register
shows that 549th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion received occupation
credit for Germany for the period from 20 May to 14 August 1945 and that,
it participated in the Ardennes-Alsace, Rhineland and Central Europe
campaigns while the applicant was assigned.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.   Unfortunately there is no substantiating evidence to show that the
applicant was treated for wounds that were the result of enemy action.  In
the absence of evidence of such medical treatment, the regulatory
requirement for award of the Purple Heart has not been met.  Award of the
Purple Heart under these circumstances is not appropriate.

2.  The applicant’s unit was authorized the Army of Occupation Medal with
Germany while he was a member and he earned campaign for a third campaign,
Central Europe.  He is also authorized the World War II Victory Medal.
These awards should be listed on his separation document.  The associated
changes are administrative in nature because the awards are already
authorized.

3.  Evidence shows that the applicant’s records contain administrative
error which does not require action by the Board.  Therefore,
administrative correction of the applicant’s records 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.

4.  Records show the applicant should have discovered the alleged error or
injustice now under consideration on 17 May 1946, the date of his
discharge.  Therefore, the time for the applicant to file a request for
correction of any error or injustice expired on 16 May 1949.  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.

3.  The Board determined that administrative error in the records of the
individual should be corrected.  Therefore, the Board requests that the
CMSD-St. Louis administratively correct the records of the individual
concerned to show that he is entitled to credit for an additional campaign,
Central Europe, and to wear an additional bronze service star on the
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal.  He is also authorized the
Army of Occupation Medal with “Germany” clasp and the World War II Victory
Medal.





                                  __Patrick H. McGann, Jr. _
                                            CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20060004249                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |20061011                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |                                        |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |DENY                                    |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |                                        |
|ISSUES         1. 107.00|                                        |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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