IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 29 January 2009
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20080014799
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 he received the Purple Heart during the Battle of the Bulge during World War II in Europe during the winter of 1945.
3. The applicant also states that all he has been getting is a runaround in getting his Purple Heart awarded to him, and believes that there is another man with his service number which may be causing the problem.
4. The applicant provides his WD AGO Form 53-55, Enlisted Record and Report of Separation Honorable Discharge.
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 applicant's military records could not be located, and are presumed to have been destroyed at the fire at the records repository at St. Louis, Missouri, in 1973. The information contained herein was derived from the WD AGO Form 53-55 and the SGO List.
3. The applicant was inducted and entered active duty on 1 April 1944, served in the European Theater of Operations from 19 January 1945 to 21 May 1946, was promoted to master sergeant and served as a sergeant major.
4. He was honorably discharged from active duty on 5 June 1946. The WD AGO Form 53-55 he was issued is remarkably complete, containing his service schools, his medals, and his military qualifications. However, it has "None" entered in Item 34, Wounds Received in Action.
5. A health record research project, commonly referred to as the "SGO Files," involved transposing the hospital admission card data from the periods of World War II and the Korean conflict onto magnetic tape. Searches of these files show the only hospitalizations for any individual with the applicant's service number was for cellulites of his thumb and pneumonia.
6. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) 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 applicant has not submitted any evidence to show he was wounded in action, and his records are not available to review.
2. The SGO Files do not show any hospitalizations for wounds under the applicant's service number. If the applicant was hospitalized for a wound, that hospitalization would be recorded in the SGO File. The hospitalizations of another Soldier with the same service number would not prevent the SGO File from recording the applicant's hospitalization.
3. The applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 is remarkably complete. This is not surprising in view of the fact that the applicant was a sergeant major. The fact that this form has "None" entered in Item 34 is indicative that the applicant did not have any wounds which were serious enough to warrant the award of the Purple Heart.
4. In view of the foregoing, there is no basis for granting the applicant's request.
BOARD VOTE:
________ ________ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
____X___ ____X___ ___X___ DENY APPLICATION
BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:
1. 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.
2. The Board wants the applicant and all others concerned to know that this action in no way diminishes the sacrifices made by the applicant in service to our Nation. The applicant and all Americans should be justifiably proud of his service in arms.
_______ _ 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) AR20080014799
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20080014799
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