IN THE CASE OF:	

		BOARD DATE:	22 January 2009  

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20080010317 


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 that the military records of her father, a former service member (FSM), be corrected to show he was awarded the Purple Heart as a result of being gassed during World War I.

2.  The applicant states her father was wounded in a German gas attack on 
18 September 1918, while participating in a combat action during the Meuse-Argonne offensive.  She states that her research indicates that all military personnel wounded during World War I had to apply for the Purple Heart after a new order, General Order No. 3, dated February 22, 1932, was issued.  She states her father was unaware of the regulation change which occurred more than 10 years after his discharge.

3.  The applicant provides, in support of her application, copies of death certificates for the FSM and his wife (her mother), an unreadable birth certificate, an information form from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), and the FSM's Honorable Discharge Certificate with an Enlisted Record on the reverse.

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 FSM’s military records were lost or destroyed in a fire at the National Personnel Records Center in 1973.  The records available to the Board 
were provided by the applicant.  These records are sufficient for the Board to conduct a fair and impartial review of this case.  

3.  The FSM enlisted in the Regular Army on 4 June 1917 and was assigned to Company B, 137th Infantry.  The highest grade held by the FSM was corporal/grade 5.

4.  The Enlistment Record contains an item entitled "Battles, engagements, skirmishes, expeditions."  This item indicates the FSM participated in the Somme Offensive, the St. Mihiel, and the Meuse-Argonne campaigns during World War I.

5.  The Enlistment Record contains an item entitled "Wounds received in service."  This item indicated the FSM was gassed on 30 September 1918.

6.  The FSM was honorably discharged on 9 May 1919.  He had completed 
1 year, 11 months, and 6 days of creditable active service.

7.  There were no medical records from the FSM's service available for review.

8.  The FSM's records show that he was entitled to additional awards, which were not requested.

9.  George Washington established the “Badge of Military Merit,” as the Purple Heart was originally known, in a New York town on 7 August 1782.  It was awarded to three Soldiers during the Revolutionary War before falling into disuse.  Its use wasn’t again proposed until World War I, when then-Army Chief of Staff General Charles Pelot Summerall requested Congress revive the medal. That movement died in 1928, but 3 years later, his successor, General Douglas MacArthur, quietly requested the medal’s design be retooled.  On the observance of George Washington’s 200th birthday (22 February 1932), under general 

orders of the War Department, the medal was revived with a new design and a new name.  However, it still was thought of as an Army decoration; it wasn’t until 1942 that President Franklin D. Roosevelt extended the medal to those serving in other services who were wounded in the 7 December 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor.  In 1952, President Harry S. Truman carried that action a step further, retroactively granting the medal to any qualified service member back to 5 April 1917. 

10.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides that the Purple Heart is awarded for wounds sustained as a result of hostile action after 5 April 1917.  Substantiating evidence must be provided to verify that the wound was the result of hostile action, the wound must have required treatment by a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.  This regulation provides examples of enemy-related injuries which clearly justify award of the Purple Heart, one of which is injury caused by enemy released chemical, biological, or nuclear agent.

11.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, for the award of the World War I Victory Medal (originally known as the Victory Medal), established by War Department General Order 48, 1919, for service between 6 April 1917 and 11 November 1918.  Final endorsement of the Victory Medal design was given by Secretary of War Newton D. Baker on 14 November 1919.

12.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, for battle clasps, authorized to be worn on the suspension ribbon of the World War I Victory Medal, for each of the major operations in which individuals were actually present under competent orders. The clasps, with a star on each side of the name of the campaign or one of the defensive sectors, were worn on the suspension ribbon of the medal.  Among the battle clasps authorized are Somme Offensive: 
8 August - 11 November 1918, St. Mihiel: 12-16 Sep 1918, and Meuse-Argonne: 26 Sep - 11 Nov 1918.  Since battle and service clasps could only be worn on the full sized World War I Victory Medal, bronze service stars were authorized for wear on the award ribbon. This was the common method of campaign and battle display when wearing the World War I Victory Medal as a ribbon on a military uniform.

13.  Army Regulation 600-8-22, in pertinent part, authorizes award of a bronze service star, based on qualifying service, for each campaign listed in Appendix B of this regulation.  The regulations state that authorized bronze service stars will be worn on the appropriate campaign and service medal, which in this case is when the World War I Victory Medal is worn as a ribbon.


DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The FSM's Enlistment Record shows that he was gassed on 30 September 1918.  It is reasonable to conclude that only wounds incurred as a result of hostile action would be entered in this block.  It would not have been appropriate to enter non-combat injuries or injuries incurred in combat that were not the result of hostile action.  The clear intent of this entry was to record wounds incurred as a result of hostile action.  

2.  Being gassed does not in and of itself mean that an individual was injured to the point of requiring treatment by medical personnel.  However, it is reasonable to conclude that in order to warrant an entry showing he was gassed on his Enlistment Record, the FSM would have required some type of medical treatment.  

3.  Therefore, in view of the above, there is sufficient evidence to award the FSM the Purple Heart.

4.  The final design for the World War I Victory Medal was not approved until after the FSM was discharged.  Therefore, it is likely he never received this award.  Based on his service from 4 June 1917 to 9 May 1919, the FSM was entitled to the World War I Victory Medal.

5.  According the FSM's Enlistment Record, he participated in the Somme Offensive, the St. Mihiel, and the Meuse-Argonne campaigns.  Therefore, the FSM was entitled to the Somme Offensive clasp, the St. Mihiel clasp, and the Meuse-Argonne clasp to be worn on the suspension ribbon of his World War I Victory Medal.  The FSM was also entitled to three bronze service stars when wearing the World War I Victory Medal as a ribbon.

BOARD VOTE:

___X_____  ___X_____  ___X_____  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 by:

   a.  awarding the FSM the Purple Heart for wounds received in action on
30 September 1918;

   b.  correcting his records to show award of the World War I Victory Medal with the Aisne-Marne clasp, the St. Mihiel clasp, and the Meuse-Argonne clasp for display on the suspension ribbon of the World War I Victory Medal;
   
   c.  correcting his records to show award of the World War I Victory Medal with three bronze service stars for display on the World War I Victory Medal service ribbon; and
   
   d.  issuing the applicant an appropriate document as a result of these corrections.



      __________X____________
       	   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)                                         AR20080010317



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20080010317



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