RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        7 December 2006
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20060006199


      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. Richard Dunbar                |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Dale DeBruler                 |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Larry Racster                 |     |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 correction of his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted
Record and Report of Separation) to show award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that he was wounded in action on 31
July 1944 in France.

3.  The applicant provides a letter, dated 19 April 2006, from a Member of
Congress; Western Union telegrams, dated 18 August 1944 and 1 September
1944; and letters, dated 10 April 2006 and 5 September 2005, from the
National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error which
occurred on
6 January 1946.  The application submitted in this case is dated 19 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 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 29 September 1943 and entered active duty
on 20 October 1943.  He served in the European Theater of Operations from
4 April 1944 through 22 December 1945 and was honorably discharged on
6 January 1946.

5.  The applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 shows the European-African-Middle
Eastern Campaign Medal with four bronze service stars, the Good Conduct
Medal, the Distinguished Unit Citation, and the World War II Victory Medal
as authorized awards.  Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) on his WD AGO
shows the entry, “None.”

6.  There are no orders for the Purple Heart in the available records.
However, a Western Union telegram, dated 18 August 1944, shows the
applicant was seriously injured in action on 31 July 1944 in France.

7.  The Office of The Surgeon General Hospital List shows the applicant was
hospitalized in August 1944 as a battle casualty.

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 medical evidence of record and the Western Union telegram which
show the applicant was wounded as a result of hostile action on 31 July
1944 in France are accepted as sufficient evidence on which to award the
Purple Heart. Therefore, items 33 (Decorations and Citations) and 34 on his
WD AGO Form 53-55 will be corrected.

2.  Records show the applicant should have discovered the alleged error now
under consideration on 6 January 1946; 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:

RD_____  ___DD___  __LR____  GRANT FULL 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
31 July 1944 in France;

      b.  adding the entry, “31 July 1944, France” in item 34 on his WD AGO
Form 53-55; and

      c.  amending item 33 on his WD AGO Form 53-55 to show that he was
awarded the Purple Heart.



                            ___Richard Dunbar_____
                                      CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20060006199                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |20061207                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |                                        |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |GRANT                                   |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |                                        |
|ISSUES         1.       |107.0015                                |
|2.                      |107.0000                                |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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