RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


	IN THE CASE OF:	  


	BOARD DATE:	31 July 2007  
	DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20070002404 


	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.


Ms. Catherine C. Mitrano

Director

Ms. Joyce A. Wright

Analyst

The following members, a quorum, were present:


Ms. Jeanette R. McCants 

Chairperson

Mr. Thomas M. Ray

Member

Mr. Jeffrey C. Redmann

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, as the daughter of the deceased former service member (FSM), in effect, that the FSM’s records be amended to show he was injured by enemy fire in July 1944 and that he be awarded the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that the FSM’s service records are in error as her father’s medical records were destroyed in the 1973 Fire, at the St. Louis Records Center, and his injury and hospitalization were omitted from his service records. 

3.  The applicant provides an additional statement in support of her request.  She states that she has been attempting to have this amendment made since 2000, when she realized that her father’s records did not indicate that he had been wounded.  In early 2000, she contacted her Congressman in hopes that his office might be able to locate her father’s medical records.  The office informed her that her father’s records had most likely been destroyed in a fire in 1973.  She also contacted the National Archives and put a notice in the 88th Division Newsletter  in hopes that she might locate more information about his injury.

4.  She recounted the incident that her deceased father gave to her mother concerning how his injury occurred.  He stated that "In July 1944 I was wounded, while serving with the 339th Field Artillery, just north of Rome.  I was driving a truck in a convoy at night when the Germans started firing at us with high bursts. We got out of our trucks and lay on the ground beside the trucks.  I was hit with a piece of shrapnel at the base of the skull, in the back of the head.  The medics picked me up and I was taken by jeep back to the field hospital in Rome.  I was in the hospital for 2-3 weeks, and then was sent back to the front lines for duty."

5.  The applicant provides several documents, including a copy of her birth certificate to establish proper interest, a copy of the FSM’s WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation Honorable Discharge), a Certificate of Death [the FSM died on 5 March 2001], and a letter sent to the FSM’s brother by the FSM, in support of her request.  The applicant's mother has provided a signed statement giving her daughter permission to give or receive any information necessary regarding her deceased husband, the FSM.






CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error or injustice which occurred on 9 November 1945, the date of the FSM's separation from active duty.  The application submitted in this case is dated 20 December 2006.

2.  The FSM’s military records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973.  Records available to the Board were obtained from alternate sources and show he was inducted on 3 July 1942 and entered active duty on 17 July 1942.  He was assigned to Service Battery, 339th Field Artillery Battalion.   He served in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) from 3 December 1943 to 3 November 1945.  While in service, he served in military occupational specialty 345, as a Truck Driver Light.  He was honorably separated on 9 November 1945.

3.  The FSM’s WD AGO Form 53-55 shows that he was credited with participation in three campaigns of World War II.  The FSM was awarded the American Service Medal; the Bronze Star Medal; the Good Conduct Medal; the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal; and the Sharpshooter Marksmanship Qualification Badge, with Carbine Bar.  The FSM’s discharge document does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award.  

4.  Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action), of the FSM’s WD AGO Form 53-55, shows the entry "NONE."  There are no orders in the FSM's service personnel records which show that he was awarded the Purple Heart.  There also is no
evidence in the FSM's records that shows he was wounded or treated for wounds as a result of hostile action during World War II.  The FSM's medical records are not available for review.

5.  The FSM's records contain a copy of a Surgeon General's Office (SGO) Hospital Listing, which shows that he was admitted to the hospital in July 1944, for treatment of a carbuncle (a painful local inflammation of tissue, esp (especially) of the back of neck and trunk, characterized by hardness and having a tendency to spread like a boil), while serving in the ETO.

6.  The applicant provided a copy of a letter that the FSM wrote to his brother, during World War II, which is undated.  The FSM informed his brother, in his letter, that he was lying in bed in the hospital writing and that it was about time he wrote.  He was feeling better than he did.  He got it in the back of his neck and hoped to get back to work.  He asked how the farming was going along and hoped that it was okay.  He had not heard from M____ or R___ in some time and 
hoped that they were okay.  The FSM mentioned the weather and asked his brother to tell the family that he was better and hoped to write to them soon.  He concluded that he would lay back and rest and not to worry, he would see them soon.  

7.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained while in action against the enemy or 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. 

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 shows that while the FSM was serving in the EAME Theater of Operations he participated in three campaigns.  The regulation also states that authorized bronze service stars will be worn on the appropriate service or campaign medal.  

9.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 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, the evidence must verify that the FSM was wounded as a result of hostile action, the wound must have required treatment, and the medical treatment was made a matter of official record.

2.  There is insufficient evidence to show the FSM was wounded or treated for wounds during World War II.  There is evidence the FSM received medical treatment for carbuncles at the base of his skull in the neck region.

3.  The letter written by the FSM to his brother from the ETO, and the account given to his widow about the events connected to his allegedly being wounded in action are insufficient to establish a basis for award of the Purple Heart to the FSM.

4.  Because there is insufficient available records pertinent to the FSM's service during World War II, and because his medical records are also unavailable for the Boards review, unfortunately, the FSM is not entitled to award of the Purple Heart and to have it added to his WD AGO Form 53-55.

5.  The evidence shows that the FSM authenticated his enlisted record on the date of his discharge.  The FSM's enlisted record clearly shows he did not receive wounds while in service. Therefore, there is an insufficient basis upon which to approve an award of the Purple Heart.

6.  The FSM's WD AGO Form 53-55 shows that he was awarded the EAME Campaign Medal.  However, he participated in three campaigns:  the North Apennines, Po Valley, and Rome-Arno.  The FSM is therefore, entitled to award of three bronze service stars to be affixed to the already-awarded EAME Campaign Medal.

7.  The FSM served on active duty during the qualifying period for award of the World War II Victory Medal.  Therefore, he is entitled to correction of his records to show this award.

8.  Evidence shows that the FSM’s records contain administrative error which does not require action by the Board.  Therefore, administrative correction of the FSM’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.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

_JM____  __JCR___  __TMR___  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 FSM for award of the Purple Heart.





2.  The Board determined that administrative error in the records of the FSM should be corrected.  Therefore, the Board requests that the CMSD-St. Louis administratively correct the records of the FSM to show that he was awarded three bronze service stars to be affixed to his European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal and awarding the FSM the World War II Victory Medal.




____Jeanette R. McCants  _
          CHAIRPERSON




INDEX

CASE ID
AR20070002404
SUFFIX

RECON
YYYYMMDD
DATE BOARDED
20070731
TYPE OF DISCHARGE
HD
DATE OF DISCHARGE
19451109
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY
AR 615-365
DISCHARGE REASON

BOARD DECISION
DENY/GRANT
REVIEW AUTHORITY

ISSUES         1.
107
2.

3.

4.

5.

6.