RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


	IN THE CASE OF:	  


	BOARD DATE:	  1 February 2007
	DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20060008510 


	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:


Ms. Barbara J. Ellis

Chairperson

Ms. Linda D. Simmons

Member

Mr. Michael J. 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 that he be awarded the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states he should have been awarded the Purple Heart because he contracted hepatitis while fighting in Italy.  He has been afforded service connection by the Department of Veteran Affairs. 

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 18 November 1945.  The application submitted in this case is dated 6 June 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 his records were lost or destroyed in that fire.  The available documents consist of copies of his WD AGO Form 53-55 and his War Department Form 372A Final Payment-Work Sheet and his Hospital Admission Card data and printout. 

4.  The applicant was inducted on 20 November 1942 and entered active duty
5 December 1942.  He debarked for the European Theater of Operations on
12 November 1943 and arrived on 1 December 1943.  He returned to the United States and, on 18 November 1945, he was separated as a private first class with an honorable discharge due to demobilization.  An Honorable Service Lapel Button was furnished.


5.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows that he received campaign participation credit for the Rome Arno, Northern Appenines, and Po Valley campaigns and that he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge.  Item 33 (Decorations and Citations) lists his authorized awards as the Good Conduct Medal, European- African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and the War II Victory Medal.  Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) states, “None.”     

6.  The Final Payment-Work Sheet shows the applicant received Combat Infantry Pay.    

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 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.  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.

10.  Additionally, World War II holders of the Combat Infantryman Badge received a monthly pay supplement known as combat infantry pay. Therefore, Soldiers had economic as well as intangible reasons to ensure that their records were correct.  Thus, pay records are frequently the best available source to verify entitlement to this award.  

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Unfortunately, there is no substantiating evidence to show that the applicant was treated for a wound sustained while in action against the enemy or as the result of enemy action.  The Purple Heart is not authorized for a disease even if it is incurred during a period of combat.    

2.  The applicant was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge and is entitled to an award of the Bronze Star Medal.

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 18 November 1945, the date of the discharge.  However, the ABCMR was not established until 2 January 1947.  Therefore, the time for the FSM to file a request for correction of any error or 
injustice expired on 1 January 1950.  The applicant did not file within the 3-year statute of limitations; however, based on the available evidence or, 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

__LDS___  __BJE__  ___MJF__  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 by issuing a correction to his discharge document to show that he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal based upon the Combat Infantryman Badge.




__     Barbara J. Ellis______
          CHAIRPERSON




INDEX

CASE ID
AR20060008510
SUFFIX

RECON
 
DATE BOARDED
20060201
TYPE OF DISCHARGE

DATE OF DISCHARGE

DISCHARGE AUTHORITY

DISCHARGE REASON

BOARD DECISION
DENY
REVIEW AUTHORITY

ISSUES         1.
107.00
2.

3.

4.

5.

6.