IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 18 FEBRUARY 2009
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20080017808
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 is the spouse of the deceased former service member (FSM) and she requests that his Enlisted Record and Report of Separation (WD AGO Form 53-55) be amended to include the award of the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states that the FSM received shrapnel wounds when he was fighting in the Asiatic Pacific Theater.
3. The applicant provides in support of her application a copy of the FSM's WD AGO Form 53-55; a copy of his Certificate of Death; and a letter from the Waupaca County Veterans Service Office, dated 7 October 2008, forwarding her application to this Board.
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. The FSMs 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 FSMs 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.
2. The FSM was inducted into the Army on 14 December 1942 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and entered active duty on 22 December 1942.
3. The FSM was honorably discharged on 9 January 1946 under the provisions of Army Regulation 615-365, for the convenience of the government, due to demobilization. The WD AGO Form 53-55 that he was furnished at the time of discharge shows he was awarded the Asiatic Pacific Theater Service Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, the Philippine Liberation Ribbon with one bronze service star, the Expert Infantryman Badge, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Sharpshooter Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar, the Army Lapel Button and four Overseas Service Bars.
4. Item number 34 (Wounds Received In Action) on the FSM's WD AGO Form 53-55 is annotated to show "None."
5. A review of the available records does not show the FSM was wounded in action while he was in the Army.
6. 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 by medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant contends that the FSM's WD AGO Form 53-55 should be amended to include the award of the Purple Heart.
2. The applicants contention was considered. However, there is no evidence in the available records, nor has she submitted any evidence, to show the FSM was wounded in action while he was in the Army.
3. Item number 34 on the FSM's WD AGO Form 53-55 reflects that he was not wounded in action and in the absence of evidence to the contrary, it must be presumed that what the Army did in his case was correct.
4. In order to justify correction of a military record the applicant must show or it must otherwise satisfactorily appear, that the record is in error or unjust. The applicant has failed to submit evidence that would satisfy this requirement.
5. Regrettably, 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:
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.
_______ _ XXX _______ ___
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) AR20080017808
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20080017808
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