RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:            14 December 2006
      DOCKET NUMBER:   AR20060005444


      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. Jessie B. Strickland          |     |Analyst              |

      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. John Slone                    |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Lester Echols                 |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Michael Flynn                 |     |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 his report of separation (WD
AGO Form 53-55) be corrected to reflect all of his awards and that he be
issued a Purple Heart Certificate.

2.  The applicant states that he has all of his awards but needs some sort
of documentation to provide the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for
healthcare benefits.  He further states that he received the Purple Heart
for wounds received in the buttocks area in 1945 and needs the certificate
to document that award.

3.  The applicant provides an illegible copy of his WD AGO Form 53-55.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error which
occurred on 28 December 1945.  The application submitted in this case was
received in April 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 (NPRC) 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 27 November 1942 and entered active duty
at New Cumberland, Pennsylvania on 11 December 1942.  He completed his
training and departed for England on 29 September 1944.

5.  He participated in the Rhineland, Ardennes and Central Europe Campaigns
and was awarded the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with
three bronze service stars, the World War II Victory Medal, the American
Campaign Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, the Meritorious Unit Award, the
Distinguished Unit Award and the Combat Medical Badge (CMB), which are
currently reflected on his WD AGO Form 53-55.

6.  He departed the European Theater of Operation (ETO) on 15 December 1945
and was transferred to Indiantown Gap Military Reservation, Pennsylvania,
where he was honorably discharged in the rank of Technician fourth class
(TEC4) on 28 December 1945.

7.  On 16 July 1984, the NPRC authorized the issuance of the Bronze Star
Medal (BSM) to the applicant based on his award of the CMB.  However, there
is no evidence to show that the BSM was ever added to his WD AGO Form 53-
55.

8.  A review of the available records, to include hospital admission
records, fails to show that the applicant was ever awarded the Purple Heart
or that he was ever treated for any wounds or injuries that were the result
of enemy action.

9.  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, and the medical treatment must have
been made a matter of official record.

10.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides, in pertinent
part, that the Bronze Star Medal is awarded for heroism and for meritorious
achievement or service in military operations against an armed enemy.  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.  Therefore, the Bronze Star Medal
is to be awarded to individuals who were authorized either badge for
service during World War II.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The available evidence does show that the applicant was awarded the BSM
for meritorious service during World War II based on his award of the CMB
and that award has not been entered on his report of separation.
Accordingly, it would be in the interest of justice to do so at this time.


2.  However, there is no evidence in the available records to show that he
was wounded in action against the enemy or that he was awarded the Purple
Heart.  Therefore, lacking evidence to show that he was in fact wounded as
a result of enemy action and that treatment for that wound was made a
matter of record, there appears to be no basis to add an award of the
Purple Heart to his records at this time.

3.  Records show the applicant should have discovered the error or
injustice now under consideration on 28 December 1945, the date of his
separation from active duty.  The ABCMR was not established until 2 January
1947.  Therefore, the time for the applicant to file a request for
correction of any error or injustice expired on 1 January 1950.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

__JS____  ___LE __  __MF ___  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

1.  The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to
warrant a recommendation for partial 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 showing his award of
the BSM.

2.  The Board further determined that the evidence presented is
insufficient to warrant a portion of the requested relief.  As a result,
the Board recommends denial of so much of the application that pertains to
award of the Purple Heart.




                            ______John Slone________
                                      CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20060005444                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |YYYYMMDD                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)    |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |AR . . . . .                            |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |(partial GRANT)                         |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |                                        |
|ISSUES                  |60/bsm                                  |
|1.107.0014              |                                        |
|2.107.0015              |61/ph                                   |
|3.110.0000              |189/corr 214                            |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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