IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 24 July 2008
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20080007594
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 award of the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states that copies of his records dated 13 March 1951 from the 8th Station Hospital in Kobe, Honshu, Japan indicate he was granted the Purple Heart as a result of 2nd and 3rd degree burns to his right hand.
3. The applicant provides a copy of a WD MD Form 55A (Clinical Record Brief) and a WD AGO Form 8-34 (Abbreviated Clinical Record.
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 complete military records are not available to the Board. 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 enlisted in the Regular Army on 6 January 1948. He served in Korea and completed 2 years and 8 months of foreign service.
4. The applicant provided a Clinical Record Brief which indicates he was transferred from the 4th Field Hospital on 13 March 1951 for treatment of burns to his right hand. While the applicant was cleaning a truck, he struck a match which caused a fire near the Han River on 10 March 1951. This document shows the entry PURPLE HEART:
with no indication that he had been issued this award.
5. The applicant provided an Abbreviated Clinical Record which also indicates he burned his right hand with flaming gasoline while cleaning a truck near the Han River in Korea on 10 March 1951.
6. The applicant was honorably discharged on 15 January 1952. His DD Form 214 does not show entitlement to the Purple Heart.
7. Item 29 (Wounds Received as a Result of Action with Enemy Forces) on the applicants DD Form 214 shows the entry None. The applicants name is not listed on the Korean Casualty Roster.
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, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record. Paragraph 2-8b(2) states that for the purpose of considering an award of the Purple Heart, a wound is defined as an injury to any part of the body from an outside force, element, or agent sustained while in action in the face of the armed enemy or as a result of a hostile act of such enemy. The regulation states that the key issue that commanders must take into consideration is the degree to which the enemy caused the injury. The fact that the proposed recipient was participating in direct or indirect combat operations is a necessary prerequisite, but is not sole justification for award.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. There are no orders which authorize award of the Purple Heart to the applicant. His name is not listed on the Korean Casualty Roster. His Clinical Records show he sustained burns to his right hand while he was cleaning a truck and he struck a match which caused the fire.
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. There is no evidence of record which indicates the applicant was wounded as a result of hostile action. Therefore, he has not met the requirements for award of the Purple Heart.
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.
_______ _xxxxx_____ ___
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.
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