RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:      1 February 2007
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20060009605


      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. Luis Almodova                 |     |Senior 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, in effect, that he be awarded the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that he feels he should be issued the
Purple Heart due to his service in World War II because, while stationed in
Germany on the Rhine River, they delivered fuel during combat.  On 1 April
1945, during an air raid he was pinned between two trucks.  This has caused
his chronic injuries for kidney, rib, back, nerve damage, and rotator cuff
tears.

3.  In support of his application, the applicant submitted a copy of his WD
AGO Form 53-55, Enlisted Record and Report of Separation, Honorable
Discharge; a request for his records from the National Archives and Records
Administration (NARA); and NARA's reply along with eight documents related
to the injury he sustained in World War II, to include a Surgeon General's
Office File Report.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error or
injustice, which occurred on 2 August 1945, the date he was honorably
discharged with a certificate of disability for discharge.  The application
submitted in this case is dated 26 June 2006 and was received for
processing on 7 July 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 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 military records were lost or destroyed in the National
Personnel Records Center fire of 1973.  Information herein was obtained
from the applicant's enlisted record and report of separation and Army
medical documents related to his accidental injury and treatment.

4.  The applicant's records show he was inducted on 26 March 1944 and
entered service at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, on the same date.  The
applicant was honorably discharged in the grade of Private First Class on 2
August 1945.
5.  Item 6 (Organization), of the applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55, shows he
was assigned to the 422nd Ordnance Evacuation Company.

6.  Item 30 (Military Occupational Specialty and No.), of the applicant's
WD AGO Form 53-55, shows he held the military occupational specialty (MOS)
189 (Rigger) while he served on active duty.

7.  The applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 shows, in Item 33 (Decorations and
Citations), that he was awarded the European-African-Middle Eastern
Campaign Medal and the Good Conduct Medal.  No other awards, to include the
Purple Heart, are shown.

8.  Item 32 (Battles and Campaigns), of the applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55,
shows he was given credit for participating in the "Germany Campaign" of
World War II.

9.  Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action), of the applicant's WD AGO Form 53-
55, shows the entry, "None."

10.  A medical document titled, "History of the Present Illness”, provided
by the applicant, and also on file in his official military personnel file
(OMPF), states in part, ". . . . patient was injured on 1 April 45 in
Germany, when he was caught between two 2 1/2 ton trucks, resulting in a
fractured pelvis, injury to left shoulder, and injury to right kidney."

11.  A medical document titled, "Final Summary", provided by the
applicant, and also on file in his OMPF, states in part in the "Diagnosis"
section, "1.  RUPTURE, traumatic, kidney, right, severe, accidentally
incurred when the patient was caught between two trucks on 1 April 1945 in
Germany, and treated by an nephrectomy, right, on 16 April 1945.  Healed."

12.  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
veterans service organizations.  It was widely believed that these tapes
would become a valuable substitute for the records lost in the
NPRC fire of 1973.  It is estimated that the SGO files document 95
percent of all hospitalized battle casualties from World War II and the
Korean War.  Searches of these files shows the applicant was treated for
a ruptured kidney, renal and urethral disease and deafness while he
served in World War II.  The circumstances shown on the "SGO Files"
report are, "All unspecified non-battle injuries."

13.  Item 36 (Service Outside Continental U.S. and Return), of the
applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55, shows he departed the United States on 10
February 1945, and served in or received medical treatment in France,
Belgium, Holland, and Germany before he departed the European Theater of
Operations (ETO) on 7 June 1945.  The applicant arrived in the United
States on 18 June 1945.

14.  Department of the Army (DA) Pamphlet 672-1, Unit Citation and
Campaign Participation Credit Register, shows the applicant's unit was
awarded credit for participation in the Central Europe campaign of World
War II.  DA Pamphlet 672-1 contains no reference to a campaign
specifically designated the "Germany Campaign."

15.  Army Regulation (AR) 600-8-22 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.  This regulation also provides that there is no statute
of limitations on requests for award of the Purple Heart.

16.  AR 600-8-22 (Military Awards), in pertinent part, authorizes award of
the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal for qualifying service
in the ETO for the period 7 December 1941 to 8 November 1945.  AR 600-8-22
also authorizes a bronze service star, based on qualifying service, for
each campaign listed in Appendix B of this regulation or listed in item 32
of the WD AGO Form 53-55.  This regulation states that authorized bronze
service stars will be worn on the appropriate campaign or service medal
including the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal.

17.  AR 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides, in pertinent part, for
award of the World War II Victory Medal.  It is awarded for service
between 7 December 1941 and 31 December 1946, both dates inclusive.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  To be awarded the Purple Heart, substantiating evidence must be
provided to verify that the applicant was wounded as the result of hostile
action, the wound must have required medical treatment, and the medical
treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

2.  There is no evidence and the applicant provided none to show he was
wounded as a result of hostile action.  The applicant's records are void of
any indication he was wounded in action while he served in the ETO.

3.  All available documents, including those the applicant provided in
support of his request, overwhelmingly indicate his injuries were the
result of an accident.  There is no indication that enemy activity was
involved or was the proximate cause of the applicant's accidental injury.

4.  A search of the "SGO Files" revealed that the applicant was treated for
a ruptured kidney, renal and urethral disease, and deafness while he served
in World War II.  The circumstances shown on the "SGO Files" report are,
"All unspecified non-battle injuries."

5.  The applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55, shows no award of the Purple Heart
in Item 33.  The separation document shows the entry "None" in Item 34.
The applicant authenticated the WD AGO Form 53-55 in his own hand and
affixed his thumb print in the appropriate space on the date of his
separation from the Army, attesting that the information recorded on the
form was, to the best of his knowledge, accurate and complete.  Therefore,
based on the available evidence in this case, he is not entitled to award
of the Purple Heart and to have it added to his WD AGO Form 53-55.

6.  The applicant was awarded the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign
Medal for his service in the ETO.  The applicant served in one campaign,
the "Central Europe" campaign, as opposed to the incorrectly shown
"Germany Campaign," during World War II; nonetheless, he was not awarded a
bronze service star to denote his campaign participation credit.  He is
therefore entitled to award of one bronze service star to be affixed to
his European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal and to have this bronze
service star added to his WD AGO Form 53-55.  The applicant is further
entitled to have the correct campaign indicated on his WD AGO Form 53-55.

7.  The applicant served on active duty during the qualifying period,
between 7 December 1941 and 31 December 1946, and he is therefore
entitled to award of the World War II Victory Medal and to have it added
to his WD AGO Form 53-55.

8.  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.

9.  Records show the applicant should have discovered the alleged error
or injustice now under consideration on 2 August 1945, the date he was
honorably discharged from active duty.  However, the ABCMR was not
established until 2 January 1947.  As a result, the time for the
applicant to file a request for correction of any error or injustice
expired on 1 January 1950.  Although the applicant did not file within
the ABCMR 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:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

___LDS__  _BJE___  __MJF___  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

1.  The Board determined that it is appropriate to waive failure  to  timely
file in this case.

2.  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.



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:

      a.  deleting the term, "Germany Campaign" from Item 32, of the
applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55, and entering the "Central Europe" campaign
in its place;

      b.  deleting the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal from
the applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 and substituting the European-African-
Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, with one bronze service star, in its place
to correctly denote his campaign participation credit; and

      c.  awarding the applicant the World War II Victory Medal and adding
this award to his WD AGO Form 53-55.




                            ____  Barbara J. Ellis____________
                                      CHAIRPERSON

                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20060009605                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |20070201                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |                                        |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |PARTIAL GRANT                           |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |                                        |
|ISSUES         1.       |107.0015                                |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


-----------------------
[pic]