RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 27 March 2007
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20060013306
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.
x
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 his report of separation (WD AGO Form 53-55) be corrected to reflect two awards of the Purple Heart and his correct date of birth (DOB) as 29 March 1922.
2. The applicant states that he received two awards of the Purple Heart and his WD AGO Form 53-55 only reflects one award and his DOB is 29 March 1922; however, his WD AGO Form 53-55 shows it as 29 March 1920.
3. The applicant provides a copy of his WD AGO Form 53-55 and a copy of his birth certificate.
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error which occurred on 18 November 1945. The application submitted in this case is dated 11 September 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 applicants failure to timely file.
3. The applicants 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 applicants 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 30 December 1942 and entered active duty at Fort Sam Houston, Texas on 6 January 1943. He completed his training and departed for the European-African-Middle Eastern (EAME) Theater of Operations on 2 January 1944.
5. He attained the rank of private first class and he participated in the Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes, Rhineland, and Central Europe Campaigns. He returned to the United States on 12 November 1945 and was honorably discharged at Fort Sam Houston on 18 November 1945. His WD AGO Form 53-55 issued at the time of his discharge indicates that his DOB is 29 March 1920 and that he was awarded the American Theater Campaign Medal, the EAME Campaign Medal with five bronze service stars and arrowhead device, the Good Conduct Medal and the World War II Victory Medal. In item 34, under Wounds Received In Action is the entry None.
6. A review of the available records, to include hospital admission records, fails to show that the applicant was wounded as a result of enemy action or that he was awarded the Purple Heart.
7. The birth certificate provided by the applicant indicates that the applicants DOB is 29 March 1922.
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 by a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicants contention that he was awarded two awards of the Purple Heart and that only one award is reflected on his separation document has been noted. However, the available records fail to show even one award of the Purple Heart or any evidence to suggest that he is entitled to an award of the Purple Heart. Therefore, in the absence of evidence to establish his entitlement to that award, there appears to be no basis to add it to his records at this time.
2. However, the birth certificate provided by the applicant does show that his DOB is 29 March 1922 instead of 29 March 1920, as is currently reflected on his WD AGO Form 53-55. Therefore, it would be appropriate at this time to correct his WD AGO Form 53-55 to reflect his correct year of birth to reflect 1922.
3. Records show the applicant should have discovered the error or injustice now under consideration on 18 November 1945, the date of his separation from active duty. The ABCMR was not established until 2 January 1947. Therefore, the time for the applicant to file a request for correction of any error or injustice expired on 1 January 1950.
BOARD VOTE:
________ ________ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF
_x___ __x___ ___x 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 showing his correct DOB as 29 March 1922.
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 adding awards of the Purple Heart to his records.
_____x____
CHAIRPERSON
INDEX
CASE ID
AR20060013306
SUFFIX
RECON
DATE BOARDED
20070327
TYPE OF DISCHARGE
DATE OF DISCHARGE
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY
AR . . . . .
DISCHARGE REASON
BOARD DECISION
(partial GRANT)
REVIEW AUTHORITY
ISSUES 1.107.0015
61/ph
2.100.0000
1021/dob
3.
4.
5.
6.
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