IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 24 September 2008
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20080006979
THE BOARD CONSIDERED THE FOLLOWING EVIDENCE:
1. Application for correction of military records (with supporting documents provided, if any).
2. Military Personnel Records and advisory opinions (if any).
THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE:
1. The applicant requests correction of his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation) to show he received combat-related injuries and to show award of the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states that the records detailing and substantiating his injuries were not located until recently. The Daily Battalion Journal he has provided will corroborate the dates and places of his two injuries.
3. The applicant provides a copy of his WD AGO Form 53-55; his letter addressed to the National Personnel Records Center, dated 3 December 1999; his letter from the National Archives and Records Administration, dated 26 January 2000; his letter addressed to the Total Army Personnel Command, dated 4 April 2001; and a Daily Battalion Journal for the 774th Field Artillery Battalion.
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 applicants 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 applicants failure to timely file. In all other respects, there are insufficient bases to waive the statute of limitations for timely filing.
2. 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.
3. The applicant was inducted into the Army of the United States on 25 October 1943 and entered active service on 15 November 1943. His WD AGO Form
53-55 shows he was assigned to the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater of Operations on 28 July 1944.
4. The applicant departed the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater of Operations on 6 April 1946. He was honorably discharged on 19 April 1946. His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he was awarded the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater Campaign Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal.
5. Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) on the applicants WD AGO Form 53-55 shows the entry NONE.
6. The applicant provided a Daily Battalion Journal for the 774th Field Artillery Battalion in Waurichen, Germany. One of the entries for 26 December 1944 indicated that One Bomb dropped from Plane, Believed American Type in Plane in Vic of Sv Btry. No Damage done other than two minor cuts on EM from falling glass. Another entry for 26 February 1945 indicated, One Enlisted man hit by fragment from Bursting Enemy shell, Treated by Bn Aid men and RTD.
7. 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 medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. There are no medical documents which indicate the applicant was wounded as a result of hostile action during World War II. In addition, his WD AGO Form 53-55 does not reflect he received any wounds in action.
2. By regulation, in order to award the Purple Heart it is necessary to establish that a Soldier was wounded in action, that the wound required treatment by a medical officer, and the treatment record must have been made a matter of official record.
3. The Daily Battalion Journal submitted by the applicant was carefully reviewed. However, the two entries for 26 December 1944 and 26 February 1945 do not identify the applicant by name as being wounded in action on these dates. Therefore, there is insufficient evidence to verify he was wounded as a result of hostile action. Regrettably, this document alone is not sufficient to meet the regulatory burden of proof necessary to support award of the Purple Heart in this case or to show he was wounded in action.
BOARD VOTE:
________ ________ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
___xx___ ___xx___ __xx____ DENY APPLICATION
BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:
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.
_________xxxx_________
CHAIRPERSON
I certify that herein is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in this case.
ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20080006979
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20080006979
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