IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	        21 August 2008

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20080008252 


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 he suffered shell fragment wounds to his face and a concussion during combat operations outside Baguio on the Philippine Island of Luzon in April 1945.  He further adds that he should have been awarded the Purple Heart while he was in the hospital; however, his transfer from one hospital to another, coupled with his own negligence in pursuing the issue, were the primary reasons for non award of the Purple Heart.   

3.  The applicant provides the following additional documentary evidence in support of his application:

	a.  WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation, Honorable Discharge), dated 12 December 1945.

	b.  Chapter 5 of the applicant's own personal memoirs recounting his combat experience and subsequent medical evacuation from Luzon.

	c.  Copies of medical records showing his hospitalization, medical evacuation to the United States, and subsequent discharge for disability.

	d.  Copy of chapter 16 of the Baguio Campaign, by S. Frankel, describing the applicant’s injury.

	e.  Letter, dated 18 April 2008, from a military historian and former servicemember. 

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 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's WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he was inducted into the Army of the United States and he entered active duty on 29 July 1944, in Detroit, Michigan.  He was trained in military occupational specialty (MOS) 745 (Rifleman).  This form also shows that he was assigned to Company G, 148th Infantry, 37th Division at the time of his separation.

4.  The applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he served in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater from 18 February 1945 to 4 September 1945.  He completed 8 months and 8 days of continental service and 8 months and 6 days of foreign service.  He was honorably separated on 12 December 1945.

5.  Item 31 (Military Qualifications and Date) of the applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge.

6.  Item 32 (Battles and Campaigns) of the applicant’s AGO Form 53-55 shows he participated in the Luzon campaign during World War II (WWII).

7.  Item 33 (Decorations and Citations) of the applicant's AGO Form 53-55 shows the applicant was awarded the Asiatic-Pacific Theater Campaign Medal with one bronze service star, the Good Conduct Medal, the Philippine Liberation Ribbon with one bronze service star, the Bronze Star Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge, and the World War II Victory Medal.  Item 33 does not show award of the Purple Heart.

8.  Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) of the applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 contains the entry "None."

9.  The applicant's records do not contain General Orders awarding him the Purple Heart. 

10.  The applicant's medical records show that he was admitted to and treated extensively at several Army hospitals in Europe and the United States for sensitivity, temper tantrums, and sleep talking.  His condition worsened and he became more panicky when a light tank fired just over his head while he was standing in front of it.  He subsequently suffered from feelings of impending disaster, insomnia, and chronic anxiety.

11.  In his letter, dated 18 April 2008, a military historian and a former Soldier states that the applicant participated in hard fighting on the Island of Luzon in the Philippines and that in his capacity as a service officer in the Military Order of the Purple Heart, he assisted many veterans in requesting their Purple Hearts, and that although the applicant lacks proof of his wounds, he believes that his medical documents, his disability discharge, and the detailed description of the action in which he was wounded when Japanese and U.S tanks fired upon each other, should be sufficient to approve his request.  

12.  The applicant submitted a copy of chapter 5 of his personal memoirs, in which he describes how he was wounded during WWII when an enemy tank fired at a U.S tank.

13.  The applicant submitted a copy of his WD AGO Form 40 (Certificate of Disability for Discharge), dated 10 December 1945, that shows he suffered from severe acute anxiety reaction, manifested by tremor, startled reaction, combat dreams, anorexia, and insomnia.  He also suffered severe combat stress and moderate neuropathic traits and economic/environmental insecurity.  

14.  The applicant submitted an extract of a book, in which chapter 6 is titled “The Baguio Campaign.”  The author describes the tactical situation during the Luzon campaign.  


15.  The Purple Heart was established by General George Washington at Newburgh, New York on 7 August 1782 during the Revolutionary War.  It was reestablished by the President of the United States per War Department General Orders Number 3 in 1932.  It was awarded in the name of the President of the United States to any member of the Armed Forces or any civilian national of the United States who, while serving under competent authority in any capacity with one of the U.S. Armed Services after 5 April 1917, died or sustained wounds as a result of hostile action.

16.  Army Regulation 672-5-1 (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 been treated by military medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official records.  This regulation also provides that there is no time limitation on requests for award of the Purple Heart.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant’s detailed memoirs as well as his other supporting evidence were carefully considered.  However, the applicant did not submit any conclusive evidence that he was wounded in combat as a result of hostile action and was treated by military medical personnel.  

2.  There are no General Orders that show the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart; there is no indication on his WD AGO Form 53-55 that he was wounded; and there is no evidence in his service personnel records which shows that he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action or treated for such wounds.  Regrettably, absent evidence which conclusively shows that the applicant sustained wounds or injuries as a result of hostile action, and that he was treated by medical personnel for those wounds or injuries, and that this treatment was made a matter of official record, there is insufficient basis for awarding the Purple Heart to the applicant in this case.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

__xxx___  __xxx___  __xxx___  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.



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      _______ _   _______   ___
               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)                                         AR20080008252



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20080008252



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