RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


	IN THE CASE OF:	  


	BOARD DATE:	  14 February 2008
	DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20070014026 


	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

Mr.  Rial D. Coleman

Analyst

The following members, a quorum, were present:


Mr. John T. Meixell   

Chairperson

Ms. Carmen Duncan  

Member

Ms. Rea M. Nuppenau

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 that his records be updated to show he was awarded the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that he was awarded the Purple Heart for shrapnel wounds received during combat while serving in Germany in 1945.  The applicant adds that he received the Purple Heart while hospitalized, but does not recall which of the four hospitals to which he was admitted presented the award to him.  He continues that the documentation was apparently misplaced during his transfers between hospitals.

3.  The applicant provides a one page self-authored statement, WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation - Honorable Discharge), WD AGO Form 100 (Separation Qualification Record), VA Insurance Form 
357 (Statement of Claim for Waiver or Continuation of Premiums Under the National Service Life Insurance Act of 1940, as Amended), VA Form 
21-8741-1 (Department of Veterans Affairs Benefits Increase), and a Record of Hospitalization from the Office of the Surgeon General as documentary evidence in support of this application.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  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 also allows the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) to excuse an applicant’s failure to timely file within the 3-year statute of limitations if the ABCMR determines it would be in the interest of justice to do so.  While it appears the applicant did not file within the time frame provided in the statute of limitations, the ABCMR has elected to conduct a substantive review of this case and, only to the extent relief, if any, is granted, has determined it is in the interest of justice to excuse the applicant’s failure to timely file.  In all other respects, there are insufficient bases to waive the statute of limitations for timely filing.

2.  The applicant's WD AGO 53-55 shows he enlisted in the Army of the United States on 30 October 1943 and entered active duty on 22 March 1944.  His military occupational specialty (MOS) was 745 (Rifleman).  He completed 1 year, 8 months, and 28 days of continental service and 0 years, 5 months, and 27 days of foreign service.  The highest grade he attained while serving on active duty was the rank of private first class.  He was honorably discharged on 
24 January 1946.
3.  Item 8 (Place of Separation) of the applicant's WD AGO 53-55 shows he was separated from Schick General Hospital located in Clinton, Iowa.

4.  Item 32 (Battles and Campaigns) of the applicant's WD AGO 53-55 shows credit for participation in two campaigns.

5.  Item 33 (Decorations and Citations) of the applicant's WD AGO 53-55 does not show the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart.

6.  Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) of the applicant's WD AGO 
53-55 contains the entry “European Theater 9 Feb 1945” [9 February 1945].

7.  Item 40 (Reason and Authority for Separation) of the applicant's WD AGO 
53-55 shows he was issued a Certificate of Disability for Discharge by Headquarters, Schick General Hospital located in Clinton, Iowa on 
22 January 1946.

8.  The applicant's WD AGO Form 100 shows he was separated on 
24 January 1946 from Schick General Hospital, Clinton, Iowa.

9.  VA Insurance Form 357, dated 21 September 1945, shows the applicant submitted a claim for a waiver of premiums under the National Service Life Insurance Act of 1940 based upon wounds sustained on 9 February 1945.  The form also shows he received treatment at the 13th Field Hospital located in Germany.

10.  VA Form 21-8741-1, dated 29 December 2005, shows the Department of Veterans Affairs informed the applicant that his monthly rate of compensation for service-connected benefits had been increased.

11.  Information obtained from the Hospital Admission Card data files for the year 1945 and provided by the Office of the Surgeon General shows, in pertinent part, the applicant was admitted to the hospital on 9 February 1945.  The form further shows he sustained wounds during battle as a result of being struck by artillery shell fragments.  The form also shows the applicant was discharged for disability after spending 349 days in the hospital.


12.  The applicant provides a one page self-authored statement in which he states, in effect, that he received the Purple Heart while hospitalized, but does not recall which of the four hospitals to which he was admitted presented the award to him.  He continues that he was a patient at a field hospital located in Germany [13th Field Hospital]; a hospital in England; Glennan General Hospital, Okmulgee, Oklahoma; and Schick General Hospital, Clinton, Iowa.  The applicant also states that in order to become a member of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, he must provide documentary evidence of the award.

13.  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.  This regulation also provides that there is no statute of limitations on requests for award of the Purple Heart.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant's contention that he is entitled to award of the Purple Heart due to wounds he received as the direct result of a hostile action was carefully considered and determined to have merit.

2.  Office of the Surgeon General permanent records show the applicant was admitted to the hospital on 9 February 1945 and treated for a combat related injury caused by an instrumentality of war and incurred in the line of duty during a war period.

3.  All of the applicant's separation documents indicate his final place of duty was Schick General Hospital, Clinton, Iowa.

4.  The applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 for the period ending 24 January 1946 shows that his reason for discharge was disability.

5.  The evidence propounded fulfills all of the prescribed regulatory criteria and is sufficient to base award of the Purple Heart in this case.  Therefore, the applicant is entitled to award of the Purple Heart and correction of his records to show award of the Purple Heart for wounds sustained as the result of a hostile act on 
9 February 1945 while he was serving in Germany.


BOARD VOTE:

_JTM___  __CD___  __RMN___  GRANT FULL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to warrant a recommendation for relief.  As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected to show award of the Purple Heart for wounds sustained as the result of a hostile act on 
9 February 1945 while he was serving in Germany.




___John T. Meixell___
          CHAIRPERSON




INDEX

CASE ID
AR
SUFFIX

RECON
YYYYMMDD
DATE BOARDED
YYYYMMDD
TYPE OF DISCHARGE
(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)
DATE OF DISCHARGE
YYYYMMDD
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY
AR . . . . .  
DISCHARGE REASON

BOARD DECISION
(NC, GRANT , DENY, GRANT PLUS)
REVIEW AUTHORITY

ISSUES         1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.