IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE:
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20080012972
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, through his elected representative, reconsideration of the Boards denial of his request for award of the Purple Heart.
2. The applicants elected representative states that the applicant was injured in a mortar attack prior to him being surrendered to the Germans along with his unit. The atrocities the applicant was subjected to while he was a prisoner of war is discussed as well as the problems the applicant experienced after he was repatriated.
3. The applicant provides a timeline of events in which he chronicles his experiences in the Army; a letter from the United States Army Reserve Ambassador dated 6 September 2007; his separation document (WD AGO Form 53-55); his WD AGO Form 100; a statement from his commander dated 23 October 1992; a statement from a soldier who was captured along with the applicant; the Boards prior considerations of his requests; and Department of Veterans Affairs records.
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. Incorporated herein by reference are military records which were summarized in the previous consideration of the applicant's case by the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) in Docket Number AC 95-11352 on 31 January 1996.
2. The applicants military records could not be located and are presumed to have been destroyed in the fire at the records repository at St. Louis, Missouri, in 1973. The information contained herein is derived from alternative sources.
3. The applicant was inducted on 4 March 1943 and entered active duty on 11 March 1943. He was awarded the military occupational specialty of Rifleman.
4. He arrived in the European Theater of Operations on 1 June 1944 and was assigned to the 550th Airborne Infantry Battalion, part of the 17th Airborne Division.
5. On 4 January 1945, while serving in Belgium, the applicant, along with his unit, surrendered to the Germans.
6. On 8 April 1945, the applicant was repatriated by British forces.
7. The applicant was returned to the United States, arriving on 17 June 1945, and was honorably discharged on 26 October 1945.
8. In the processing of this case the Boards staff researched the historical files of the 550th Airborne Infantry Battalion which are stored at the National Archives. During that search a historical journal entitled A Bolt From The Blue was discovered. That journal contains both the applicants name and the name of the officer which provided the statement attesting to having witnessed the applicant being wounded. Also discovered was the entry of the staff duty journal, dated 4 January 1945, which chronicles how the applicants battalion attacked its objectives, met with fierce resistance, and withdrew from its forward command post after enemy tanks and infantry surrounded the town in which Company B was located. The historical journal and the staff duty journal are new evidence which require that the Board reconsider the applicants request for the Purple Heart.
9. In the statement provided by the applicant, the applicants former commander stated This is to certify further that Private Payne was, during combat on 3 and 4 January 1945 wounded and on 4 January was surrendered to the Germans by me.
10. Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides that the Purple Heart is awarded for wounds 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 a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The Boards staff, in its research of records at the National Archives, has discovered verification that the applicants eyewitness statement of his wounding is from his commander at the time in question.
2. It is certainly understandable that documents which would normally document a soldiers wound, to include medical records, would not be available in this case. The applicants battalion was withdrawing from its position in the face of enemy armor and infantry, and was surrendered immediately following the applicants wounding. As such, the lack of such documents cannot be considered a bar to the award of the Purple Heart.
3. The applicants commanders statement is considered verification that the applicant was wounded as the result of hostile action. As such, it would be appropriate to now award him the Purple Heart.
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 amendment of the ABCMRs decision in Docket Number AC 95-11352 dated 31 January 1996. As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by awarding the individual concerned the Purple Heart.
_______ 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) AR20080012972
3
ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
1
ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20080012972
3
ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
1
ARMY | BCMR | CY2002 | 2002080857C070215
Additionally, his DA Form 20, Enlisted Personnel Record, does not reflect award of the Purple Heart, nor does it show that he was wounded in action. His DD Form 214 should show award of the Vietnam Service Medal with four bronze service stars (one for each campaign). That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by showing that the individual concerned was awarded the Air Medal with first oak leaf cluster, the Army Commendation Medal, the Good Conduct...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2013 | 20130001099
The FSM's military service records are not available to the Board for review. There is no evidence in the available military service records that shows the FSM was awarded the Purple Heart. The applicant contends that the FSM's records should be corrected to show award of the Purple Heart because he was a POW during World War II and he suffered injuries while in captivity.
ARMY | BCMR | CY2012 | 20120006834
Additionally, he received a copy of his military record and noted the following wounds were not annotated: * 16 February 1944, Anzio, Italy, head wound * 2 April 1944, Anzio, Italy, back wound * 8 April 1944, Anzio, Italy, finger wound * 28 December 1944, Colmar, France, hand wound * 9 January 1945, Orbey, France, leg wounds * 4 April 1945, Eichenbach, Germany, chest wound 3. The applicant provides: * Letter, dated 12 October 2010 * Excerpt from a newspaper, dated May 2011 * Self-authored...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2001 | 2001053140C070420
There is no evidence in the available records that shows the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart or was wounded as a result of hostile action during World War II. Executive Order 11016, dated 25 April 1962, provided more latitude with respect to award of the Purple Heart to prisoners of war, as well as the authority to award the decoration to wounded soldiers even in the absence of a formal declaration of war. The applicant was awarded the Prisoner of War Medal; therefore, he is...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2013 | 20130009468
The applicant requests the records of her deceased husband, a former service member (FSM), be corrected by awarding him the Purple Heart and the World War II Victory Medal. His service medical records are not available for review with this case. With respect to the World War II Victory Medal, this award is already listed on the FSM's WD AGO Form 53-55.
ARMY | BCMR | CY2010 | 20100025390
The applicant provides copies of the FSM's death certificate, a WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation - Honorable Discharge), a 1947 Veterans Administration (VA) benefits development letter, a 1950 VA benefits increase award letter, a 1947 letter from a fellow Soldier, and a list of service members from the FSM's unit. 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...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2002 | 2002067813C070402
In accordance with Army Regulation 15-185, the application and the available military records pertinent to the corrective action requested were reviewed to determine whether to authorize a formal hearing, recommend that the records be corrected without a formal hearing, or to deny the application without a formal hearing if it is determined that insufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the existence of probable material error or injustice. Two available sets of...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2007 | 20070011545
There is no evidence in the applicant's available military records that shows he was wounded on or about this date, that he received medical treatment, and that the medical treatment was recorded in official military records. Therefore, the applicant is entitled to have his records corrected to show award of the Army of Occupation Medal with Germany Clasp. As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records, specifically the WD AGO Form 53-55 with a separation date of...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2007 | 20070012383
The applicants military records are not available to the Board for review. Two witness statements stated, in effect, that they saw the applicant with blood near his ear and that they recall being in the vicinity when enemy artillery shells or concussion grenades exploded near them. As a result, the Board recommends that the WD AGO Form 53-55 of the individual concerned with a separation date of 1 December 1945 be corrected: a. by showing award of the Bronze Star Medal; b. by showing award...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2015 | 20150001341
The applicant provides: * previous correspondence with and from the Board * letter, dated 27 October 2014 from the National Archives * Congressional correspondence * newspaper articles dated 17 August 2014 * self-authored memoirs * letter, dated 29 August 2014 from the U.S. Army Human Resources Command (HRC) * Certificate of Death * letter, dated 11 November 2013 from the National Personnel Records Center * Application for Headstone or Marker * photograph of a headstone with the name "Edward...