RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


	IN THE CASE OF:	  


	BOARD DATE:	  6 May 2008
	DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20080000353 


	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.




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 award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states he was wounded in combat during World War II and should have been awarded the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant provides two Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Rating Decisions, one dated 6 May 1996 and one 14 August 2007; and a buddy statement, dated 9 July 1979.

4.  In a previous application, which was administratively closed, the applicant provided documents that included one page from a World War II history book; a copy of an envelope, postmarked 5 April 1945; copies of morning reports and Organization or Detachment Commander’s Reports; copies of his service medical records; and copies of VA medical records. 

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 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 applicant’s Army records were lost or destroyed in that fire.  However, there were sufficient documents remaining in a reconstructed record, consisting of the documents provided by the applicant, for the Board to conduct a fair and impartial review of this case.  The applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 (Report of Separation) is not available.


3.  The applicant entered the Army on an unknown date and arrived in the European Theater of Operations on an unknown date.

4.  The applicant provided several documents, including a buddy statement from the driver who drove the applicant and several other Soldiers to the hospital, that indicate he was wounded while he was detached to General Eisenhower’s headquarters at Port Smith, England, on 17 May 1944 when a shell exploded, causing shrapnel wounds to his legs, head, and eyes.

5.  The applicant provided a VA document, dated 19 November 1991, which states the applicant reported some medical symptoms initially started when he had to be evacuated to a hospital after a buzz bomb attack in England in 1944 near the headquarters of General Eisenhower.

6.  The applicant provided a page from a World War II history book.  The title of the page is, “World War II Fifty Years Ago Today, June 13, 1944.”  The page went on to state that the first German V-1 flying bomb hit London, killing six civilians, on that date.  The applicant annotated that page, stating that was the buzz bomb that hit three of them with shrapnel at dusk one day at General Eisenhower’s headquarters at Port Smith, England.

7.  The applicant provided copies of several morning reports and Organization or Detachment Commander’s Reports showing he was hospitalized in July and August 1944.  

8.  The applicant provided a VA document that indicated he was shipped to the Pacific as a member of a Combat Engineer Division that was eventually stationed in Japan, and he was finally discharged in February 1946.

9.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states the Purple Heart is awarded to any member of an Armed Force who has been wounded or killed in any action against an enemy of the United States.  The wound must have required treatment by a medical officer and records of medical treatment for wounds or injuries received in action must have been made a matter of official record.  When contemplating an award of the Purple Heart, the key issue commanders must take into consideration is the degree to which the enemy caused the injury.  The fact the proposed recipient was participating in direct or indirect combat operations is a necessary prerequisite, but is not sole justification for award.


10.  Historical references to the German V-1 buzz bomb, obtained from the internet, indicate the bombs were first launched against England in June 1944.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant was insistent, by mentioning in several documents over the years and by providing a supporting statement from the driver who drove the applicant and several other Soldiers to the hospital, that he was wounded at Port Smith, England, on 17 May 1944 when a shell exploded, causing shrapnel injuries.

2.  The applicant was also insistent, by providing a page from a World War II history book that discussed the German V-1 flying bomb (or buzz bomb) and by annotating that page, stating he was wounded as a result of an exploding German buzz bomb.

3.  However, the very same page from the book provided by the applicant is evidence that he could not have been injured by a German buzz bomb on         17 May 1944.  That page stated the first buzz bomb hit London on 13 June 1944. A June 1944 date for the first attack against England by a German buzz bomb is confirmed by other historical records.

4.  Regrettably, the evidence does not support the applicant’s contention that he was wounded by a German buzz bomb on 17 May 1944.  This is not to say that he was not wounded by something that exploded.  Unfortunately, there is no evidence to support that he was wounded as a result of enemy action and not just as a result of some tragic accident.

5.  Regrettably, there is insufficient evidence that would warrant awarding the applicant the Purple Heart.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

__xxx___  __xxx___  __xxx___    DENY APPLICATION


BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

1.  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 concerned.

2.  The Board wants the applicant and all others concerned to know that this action in no way diminishes the sacrifices made by the applicant in service to our Nation.  The applicant and all Americans should be justifiably proud of his service in arms.




      __           XXX____
                CHAIRPERSON


ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20080000353


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DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
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ARLINGTON, VA  22202-4508