IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  29 January 2009

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20080018369 


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, in effect, that the Purple Heart be added to his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation - Honorable Discharge).

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that he went into battle on Okinawa on 8 May 1945 in a company of 240 men.  He was assigned to Company B, 382d Infantry of the 96th Division.  He was injured by a hand grenade and was one of only twenty in his company who survived the battle.  All the officers were casualties before him; therefore, no officer could have submitted a recommendation for award of the Purple Heart to him.

3.  In support of his application, the applicant submitted a copy of his WD AGO Form 53-55; a copy of his honorable discharge certificate, a copy of two downloaded documents from the internet, and a copy of correspondence addressed to him date 21 February 1946 from the Veterans Administration [now the Department of Veterans Affairs].

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 were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973.  Information herein was obtained from the applicant's reconstructed record, his enlisted record and report of separation and from other official Army sources.

3.  The evidence shows that the applicant was inducted on 20 September 1944.  He entered service at Chicago, Illinois, on the same date.  The applicant was honorably discharged in the grade of Private First Class on 14 February 1946 as a Rifleman in the military occupational specialty, 745, at Percy Jones Hospital Center, Fort Custer, Michigan, under the provisions of Army Regulation 615-361, Section I, for disability.

4.  Item 6 (Organization) of the applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he was assigned to Company B, 382d Infantry, 96th Division.

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

6.  Item 33 (Decorations and Citations) of the applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 shows the applicant was awarded, in effect, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the World War II Victory Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, and the Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal with one bronze service star.  The Purple Heart is not shown in Item 33; however, Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) shows the applicant sustained a wound in action on Okinawa on 25 May 1945.  Copies of orders awarding the applicant the Purple Heart are not on file in the applicant's reconstructed records.

7.  With his application for correction of his record, the applicant submitted a copy of a letter sent to him by the Department of Veterans Affairs dated 21 February 1946 notifying him he was being awarded a pension on account of a disability which resulted from a service connected disability  -  residuals of a shell fragment wound (in combat) and disability of the left leg.


8.  Department of the Army (DA) Pamphlet 672-1 (Unit Citation and Campaign Participation Credit Register) shows the applicant's unit was awarded the Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation, for the period 17 October 1944 through 4 July 1945, by Department of the Army General Orders 47, dated 1950.  The applicant was a member of the unit at the time the unit was cited for this unit award.

9.  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.

10.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 also provides, in pertinent part, that the Bronze Star Medal is awarded for heroism and for meritorious achievement or service in military operations against an armed enemy.  The Bronze Star Medal is authorized for each individual who was cited in orders or awarded a certificate for exemplary conduct in ground combat between 7 December 1941 and 2 September 1945 or whose achievement or service, during that period, was confirmed by documents executed prior to 1 July 1947.  An award of the Combat Infantryman Badge or the Combat Medical Badge is considered to be a citation in orders.  Therefore, the Bronze Star Medal is to be awarded to individuals who were authorized either badge for service during World War II.

11.  Army Regulation 670-1 (Wearing and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Insignia), chapter 29, prescribes policy and guidance for wear of U.S. and foreign unit awards.  This regulation states that a Soldier may wear the unit award permanently if the individual was assigned to, and present for duty with the unit any time during the period cited; or was attached by competent orders to, and present for duty with the unit during the entire period, or for at least thirty consecutive days of the period cited.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  To be awarded the Purple Heart, substantiating evidence must be presented to show that the Soldier was wounded as a result of hostile action, the wound must have required medical treatment by military medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

2.  The evidence of record shows the applicant sustained a wound in action on Okinawa on 25 May 1945.  He was honorably discharge at Percy Jones Hospital 


Center, Fort Custer, Michigan, under the provisions of Army Regulation 615-361, Section I, for disability, and was provided service connected compensation by the Department of Veterans Affairs for - residuals of a shell fragment wound (in combat) and disability of the left leg.  The applicant is therefore entitled to award of the Purple Heart for wounds he sustained in combat on 25 May 1945 and to have this award added to his WD AGO Form 53-55.

3.  The Army awards regulation provides that the Bronze Star Medal is awarded for heroism, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service, in military operations against an armed enemy.  The Bronze Star Medal is authorized for each individual who was cited in orders or awarded a certificate for exemplary conduct in ground combat between 7 December 1941 and 2 September 1945 or whose achievement or service, during that period, was confirmed by documents executed prior to 1 July 1947.  An award of the Combat Infantryman Badge is considered to be a citation in orders.  The evidence shows the applicant was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge during World War II.  Based on this evidence and the special provisions of the Army's awards regulation, the applicant is therefore entitled to award of the Bronze Star Medal and to have it added to his WD AGO Form 53-55.

4.  The evidence shows the applicant was assigned to a unit at the time it was awarded the Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation.  He is therefore entitled to have this unit award added to his WD AGO Form 53-55.

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 applicant the Purple Heart for wounds he received on 25 May 1945 and adding this award to his WD AGO Form 53-55;

   b.  awarding the applicant the Bronze Star Medal based on his having been awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge during World War II and adding this award to his WD AGO Form 53-55; and

   c.  adding the Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation to the applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55.




      _______ _   __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)                                         AR20080018369





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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20080018369



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