RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


	IN THE CASE OF:	  


	BOARD DATE:	  8 March 2007
	DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20060010764 


	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. Gerard W. Schwartz

Acting Director



Analyst
      The following members, a quorum, were present:




Chairperson



Member



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, award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that he was awarded the Purple Heart at a field station.

3.  The applicant provides a copy of his letter from the National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Missouri, in support of his application.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error or injustice which occurred on 25 December 1945, the date of his discharge.  The application submitted in this case is dated 20 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 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 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 a fair and impartial review of this case.  

4.  The available military records show that the applicant was inducted into the Army of the United States, in pay grade E-1, on 13 October 1943, and entered active duty on 3 November 1943.

5.  The applicant completed training and served as a light truck driver in military occupational specialty (MOS) 345 with Company A, 12th Infantry Regiment.  He served overseas in the European Theater Operation (ETO) from 16 April 1944 to 20 December 1945 for three campaigns.  



6.  He was honorably discharged from active duty, in pay grade E-3, on 25 December 1945. 

7.  Entries on his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation) do not show award of the Purple Heart.  Item 31 (Military Qualification and Date) lists the following awards:  the Marksman Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar and the Combat Infantryman Badge.  Item 33 (Decorations and Citations) lists the following awards:  the Good Conduct Medal, the European African Middle Eastern Theater Campaign Ribbon, and the World War II Victory Medal.  Item 55 (Remarks) lists the Honorable Service Label Button, World War II.

8.  Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action), of the applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55, is annotated with “None” to indicate the applicant was not wounded while he served in the ETO.  The applicant affixed his right thumb print to Item 54 and placed his signature in Item 56 to indicate that the information recorded on the form was correct/complete to the best of his knowledge.

9.  There are no orders in the applicant’s service personnel records that show he was awarded the Purple Heart.  There is also no evidence in his records that he was wounded or treated for wounds as a result of hostile action.  

10.  In a letter to the applicant, dated 26 May 2006, a staff member of the National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, advised the applicant that the record needed to answer his inquiry was not in their files.  If the record were there on 12 July 1973, it would have been in the area that suffered the most damage in the fire on that date and might have been destroyed.  Fortunately, there were alternative record sources that often contained information which could be used to reconstruct service record data lost in the fire; however, complete records could not be reconstructed.

11.  The letter also advised that a search of records for the 12th Infantry Regiment by the Army Human Resources Command, St. Louis, and for the 4th Infantry Division failed to find the Purple Heart orders for the applicant.  The letter recommended the nearest Department of Veteran Affairs be contacted for any medical records that might indicate the applicant’s injuries.  

12.  Army Regulation 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.  The regulation also states that the Purple Heart is not governed by the statute of limitations.

13.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 also 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.  This means, in effect, that the Bronze Star Medal is to be awarded to individuals who were authorized either badge for service during World War II.

14.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides, in pertinent part, that the Presidential Unit Citation (known as the Distinguished Unit Citation until 3 November 1966) is awarded for extraordinary heroism in action.  A unit must display such gallantry, determination and esprit de corps in accomplishing its mission as would warrant award of the Distinguished Service Cross to an individual. 

15.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides, in pertinent part, for the “arrowhead” to be worn on the appropriate service medal to denote participation in a combat parachute jump, helicopter assault landing, combat glider landing, or amphibious assault landing while assigned or attached as a member of an organized force carrying out an assigned tactical mission.  The regulation specifies that individual assault credit is tied directly to the combat assault credit decision for the unit to which the Soldier is assigned.  The regulation requires that the unit must be credited with a combat assault in order for the Soldiers to receive credit for a combat assault and the Soldier must physically exit the aircraft or the watercraft as appropriate.  The regulation also specifies that the arrowhead is authorized for wear on the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the Korean Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, and the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal.

16.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides for award of the Belgian Fourragere.  This regulation states that it may be awarded by the Belgian 

Government when a unit has been cited twice in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army.  The award of the Belgian Fourragere is not automatic but must be by special decree of the Belgian Government.  Persons who were present in only one action are not authorized to wear the Fourragere.

17.  Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-1, Unit Citation and Campaign Participation Credit Register, dated 6 July 1961, shows the applicant's unit was cited for award of the Presidential Unit Citation formerly known as the Distinguished Unit Citation, by War Department General Orders Number 54, dated 1945.

18.  Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-1, also shows the applicant's unit was awarded credit for an assault landing at Normandy from 6 to 7 June 1944, by War Department General Orders Number 70, dated 1945.  

19.  Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-1, also shows the applicant's unit was cited for award of the Belgian Fourragere, by War Department General Orders Number 43, dated 1950.  

20.  Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-1, also shows the applicant's unit was awarded occupational credit for the occupation of Germany.

21.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 also authorizes a bronze service star, based on qualifying service, for each campaign listed in Appendix B of this regulation and states that authorized bronze service stars will be worn on the appropriate campaign or service medal including the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  By regulation, in order to be awarded the Purple Heart, it is necessary to establish that a soldier was wounded or injured in action.  Available records give no indication that the applicant ever sustained or was treated for a wound he received in Europe as a result of enemy action or that he was ever eligible for or awarded the Purple Heart.

2.  The evidence of record confirms that the applicant was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge.  The applicant is eligible for award of the Bronze Star Medal based on award of the Combat Infantryman Badge for his service during World War II.  Therefore, it would be appropriate to correct his records to show award of the Bronze Star Medal.
3.  The evidence of record confirms that he is entitled to award of the Presidential Unit Citation, the Belgian Fourragere, the Army of Occupation Medal with Germany Clasp, three bronze service stars and an arrowhead to be worn on his European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and they should be added to his records.

4.  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 2 of the BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION section below.

5.  Records show the applicant should have discovered the alleged error or injustice now under consideration on 25 December 1945, the date of his separation from active duty.  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.  The applicant did not file within the 3-year statute of limitations.  However, since award of the Purple Heart is not governed by a statute of limitations, it is appropriate to waive failure to timely file in this case.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

_rn_____  __EM____  __WFC__  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 concerning award of the Purple Heart.

2.  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 award of the Bronze Star Medal, the Presidential Unit Citation, the Belgian Fourragere, the Army of Occupation Medal with Germany Clasp, and three bronze service stars and an arrowhead to be affixed to his European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and by providing him a corrected separation documents



      ____
                CHAIRPERSON



INDEX

CASE ID
AR20060010764
SUFFIX

RECON

DATE BOARDED
20070308
TYPE OF DISCHARGE

DATE OF DISCHARGE

DISCHARGE AUTHORITY

DISCHARGE REASON

BOARD DECISION
DENY w NOTE
REVIEW AUTHORITY

ISSUES         1.
107.00
2.

3.

4.

5.

6.



ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20060010764


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DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
1901 SOUTH BELL STREET 2ND FLOOR
ARLINGTON, VA  22202-4508