RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        26 April 2007
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20060012743


      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      |
|     |Mr. Joseph A. Adriance            |     |Analyst              |

      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. William D. Powers             |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. William F. Crain              |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Dale E. DeBruler              |     |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
(PH); and that Item 34 (Wounds Received In Action) and Item 41 (Service
Schools Attended) of his 2 October 1945 separation document (WD AGO Form 53-
55) be corrected.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that the errors in his separation
document occurred during the confusion of thousands of Soldiers being
quickly processed for demobilization separation.  He claims he is providing
evidence to confirm his completion of the Chemical Warfare School and
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) reports of his service connected
disabilities, which includes a shrapnel wound to the neck.

3.  The applicant provides the 6 attachments identified on his application
continuation sheet in support of his application.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error or injustice
that  occurred on 2 October 1945, the date of his separation.  The
application submitted in this case is dated 30 August 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 record shows that he enlisted in the Regular Army and
entered active duty on 5 July 1940.  His Service Record (WD AGO Form 24)
shows that he departed the United States for the European Theater of
Operations (ETO) on 21 February 1944 and arrived there on 1 March 1944.  It
also shows that during his active duty tenure, he earned the European-
African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal and that he was credited with
participating in the Normandy, Northern France, and Rhineland campaigns of
World War II.  The Medals, Decorations and Citations portion of his WD AGO
Form 24 does not list the Purple Heart as an earned award.

4.  The applicant's record contains no derogatory information or a unit
commander disqualification that would have precluded the applicant from
receiving the Army Good Conduct Medal (AGCM).

5.  Medical Treatment Forms contained in the applicant's record show that
in December 1944, he was admitted to the 111th General Hospital in the ETO
and was treated for trench foot and deafness.  The notes on this document
indicate the deafness was due to heavy firing due to concussions received
in 1942 while he was on maneuvers.  A second Medical Treatment Form shows
he was again treated for trench foot at the 205th Medical Dispensary in the
ETO on
13 February 1945.  Neither form indicates that either condition was
received as a result of enemy action, nor is there any comment on
entitlement to the PH.

6.  An additional Medical Treatment Form on file shows the applicant was
treated for recurrent trench foot and psychoneurosis/anxiety (manifested by
tension and anxiety) at the 10th Station Hospital in the ETO on 21 April
1945.  This document gives no indication that either of these conditions
were received as a result of enemy action and does not comment on PH
entitlement.

7.  Office of the Surgeon General (OTSG) Hospital Admission Records for
1945 show the applicant was admitted to a medical treatment facility in the
ETO on
15 December 1944, and that he was treated for trench foot and deafness.
There is no indication that these conditions were received as a direct
result of enemy action and not comment on PH entitlement on this form.

8.  The applicant's record is void of any medical treatment records or OTSG
Hospital Admission Records that show he was ever treated for a shrapnel
wound to his neck.  Further, the record is void of any orders or other
documents indicating that he was ever wounded as a result of enemy action,
or that he was ever awarded the PH by proper authority while serving on
active duty.

9.  On 2 October 1945, the applicant was honorably separated after
completing
3 years, 7 months, and 24 days of active military service.  Item 32
(Decorations and Citations) of the WD AGO Form 53-55 he was issued at the
time shows that he earned the EAME Campaign Medal with 3 bronze service
stars and the American Defense Service Medal during his active duty tenure.
 The PH is not included in the list of awards contained in Item 32.  Both
Item 34 and Item 41 contain the entry "None," and the applicant
authenticated this document with his signature in Item 56 (Signature of
Person Being Separated) on the date of his separation.

10.  The applicant provides a self-authored statement regarding the details
related to the alleged shrapnel wound he received in his neck.  He claims
that during the Battle of the Bulge, he and his unit landed on the beach
(Easy Red) and he and his driver put a truck fire and they set-up behind
the infantry.  He states that later that night after the infantry broke
through the enemy lines and the Germans had an 88 on a track and pinned
them down.  One round exploded close to the applicant's unit and his neck
was hurting and burning.  He states that when daylight came, he could not
hear what his men were saying and his vision was blurred.  By this time,
his feet were frozen and his men knew something was wrong with him and they
called the medical corpsmen (MEDICs), who brought him to Field Hospital 45,
which was not too far from the front lines.  He indicates that when only
small arms infantryman remained, he felt something was not right, and he
left with a truck that was departing.  He was taken to another filed
hospital and the next day it was reported that the Germans broke through
and had killed doctors, nurses and everyone at the 45th Field Hospital.  He
was flown back to England and was hospitalized for 2 or 2 1/2 months.  He
claims they sent him home with no record of his hospitalization.

11.  The applicant provides extracts of VA Medical Record Progress Notes,
dated 26 October 1999, which shows the applicant indicated that he was shot
in the right neck during the Battle of the Bulge, and that he still had
palpable shrapnel.  The applicant also reported that he had trench foot due
to cold exposure and hearing loss related to exposure to loud noise.  An
addendum shows that the examining physician changed the details related to
the applicant's neck wound to indicate he received the wound as a result of
shrapnel from German filed artillery explosives.  There is no indication in
the VA notes that military medical records were used during the
examination.

12.  The applicant also provides a copy of a Certificate issued by the
Sixth Coast Artillery Training Group, Camp Wallace, Texas, which shows he
attended and completed the Unit Gas Officers Course of the Chemical Warfare
School during the period 7 through 12 July 1941.

13.  On 25 January 2007, the applicant submitted a letter with additional
information in support of his application.  In this letter, he indicated
that the VA changed his disability rating to 80 percent on 16 November
2006, which shows that the VA is convinced he has severe service connected
injuries; however, his discharge papers do not reflect these injuries.

14.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) prescribes Army policy and
criteria concerning individual military awards.  Paragraph 2-8 contains the
regulatory guidance pertaining to awarding the PH.  It states, in pertinent
part, that in order to award a PH there must be evidence that a member was
wounded or injured as a result of enemy action.  The wound or injury for
which the PH is being awarded must have required treatment by a medical
officer, this treatment must be supported by medical treatment records that
were made a matter of official record.  Paragraph 2-8h contains a list of
examples of injuries that clearly do not support award of the PH.  Included
in this list are Frostbite or trench foot injuries, battle fatigue and
explosive, aircraft, vehicular, and other accidental wounding not related
to or caused by enemy action.

15.  While award of the PH for frostbite injuries is currently prohibited,
such injuries were previously a basis for the award.  Until 1951, Army
Regulation
600-45, which governed the award of the Army decorations, stated that for
the purpose of considering an award of the PH a “wound” is defined as an
injury to any part of the body from an outside force, element, or agent
sustained while in action in the face of the enemy or a result of a hostile
act of such enemy.  An “element” pertains to weather and the award of this
decoration to personnel who were severely frostbitten while actually
engaged in combat was authorized; however, the PH was not authorized for
trench foot cold weather injuries.

16.  Chapter 4 of the awards regulation prescribes the policy for award of
the
AGCM.  It states, in pertinent part, that the AGCM is awarded to
individuals for each 3 years of service completed on or after 27 August
1940.  For the first award only, 1 year served entirely during the period 7
December 1941 to 2 March 1946, is a qualifying period.  Although there is
no automatic entitlement to the AGCM, disqualification must be justified.

17.  Paragraph 5-12 of the awards regulation contains guidance on the World
War II Victory Medal.  It states, in pertinent part, that it is authorized
for active duty service performed between 7 December 1941 and 31 December
1946, both dates inclusive.

18.  War Department Technical Manual 12-235 (Discharge and Release From
Active Duty) contained guidance on the preparation of the WD AGO Form 53-
55. The policy in effect at the time allowed for entering chronologically
each wound received as a result of enemy action by showing the date and
place of action in Item 34.  The policy allowed for entering all service
schools, including dates and major course, completed satisfactorily in Item
41.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant's contention that Item 34 and Item 41 of his WD AGO Form
53-55 should be corrected was carefully considered and found to have
partial merit. The policy in effect at the time of the applicant's
separation provided for entering all service schools completed
satisfactorily in Item 41.  Therefore it would be appropriate to amend Item
41 of the applicant's 2 October 1945 WD AGO Form 53-55 by deleting the
current entry and replacing it with the entry "Chemical Warfare School-Unit
Gas Officers Course-7-12 July 1941-Camp Wallace, Texas".

2.  The applicant's record is void of any derogatory information or a unit
commander disqualification that would have precluded him from receiving the
AGCM.  Therefore, it would be appropriate to award him the AGCM for his
qualifying honorable active duty service from 5 July 1940 through 4 July
1943.

3.  The applicant's record also shows that based on his World War service,
he is also entitled to the World War II Victory Medal.  Therefore, it would
also be appropriate to add this award to his record and separation document
at this time.

4.  The evidence of record includes military medical treatment records and
OTSG Hospital Admission Records confirming that the applicant was
hospitalized and treated for trench foot, deafness, and
psychoneurosis/anxiety while on active duty.  None of the medical records
indicate these conditions were received as a result of enemy action.
Therefore, they do not provide a basis to amend Item 34 of the applicant's
WD AGO Form 53-55.  However, the applicant is advised that these medical
records remain on file in his record and his treatment for the conditions
mentioned is properly document.

5.  The applicant's military record is void of any entries or medical
treatment records that indicate he received and/or was treated for a
shrapnel wound while serving on active duty.  Further, there is no
indication that the was ever, wounded as a result of enemy action, or that
he was ever recommended for or awarded the PH by proper authority while
serving on active duty.  His separation document contains the entry "None"
in Item 34 and the PH is not included in the list of awards contained in
Item 32.  The applicant authenticated this document with his signature on
the date of his separation.  In effect, his signature was his verification
that information contained on the separation document, to include the Items
32 and 34 entries, was correct at the time the WD AGO Form 53-55 was
prepared and issued.

6.  The veracity of the applicant's claim that he received and suffered
from severe service connected conditions that included trench foot, hearing
loss and a shrapnel wound and that the VA recognizes these service
connected conditions is not in question.  However, absent any evidence that
any of these wounds were received as a result of enemy action, the
regulatory burden of proof necessary to support a change to Item 34 of his
WD AGO Form 53-55 or to support award of the PH has not been satisfied in
this case.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

___WDP   __WFC__  ___DED _  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 awarding him the Army
Good Conduct Medal for his qualifying honorable active duty service from 5
July 1940 through 4 July 1943; by showing his entitlement to the World War
II Victory Medal; by amending Item 41 of his 2 October 1945 WD AGO Form 53-
55 by deleting the current entry and replacing it with the entry "Chemical
Warfare School - Unit Gas Officers Course - 7 through 12 July 1941-Camp
Wallace, Texas"; and by providing him a correction to his separation
document that includes these changes.

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
correcting Item 34 of his
WD AGO Form 53-55 and/or to award him the Purple Heart.




                                  _____William D. Powers____
                                            CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20060012743                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |2006/04/26                              |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |HD                                      |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |1945/10/02                              |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |AR 615-365                              |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |Demobilization                          |
|BOARD DECISION          |GRANT PARTIAL                           |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |Mr. Schwartz                            |
|ISSUES         1.  1021 |100.0000                                |
|2.  46                  |107.0000                                |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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