IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 28 MAY 2009
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20090003399
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 his military records be corrected to show award of the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states that he served in Korea from 1951 to 1952. In September 1951, he received extensive shrapnel wounds to both his arms and right hand from an enemy mortar round. The applicant states that he should have received the Purple Heart. At that time, he did not want to argue about the medal, he just wanted to go home.
3. The applicant provides his DD Form 214 (Report of Separation from the Armed Forces of the United States) with the period ending 26 December 1952 and eight photographs that show scars on both of his forearms.
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 applicants 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 applicants records were lost or destroyed in that fire. However, this case is being considered using reconstructed records, which primarily consist of his DD Form 214.
3. The applicant's DD Form 214 with the period ending 26 December 1952 shows he was inducted into the Army of the United States on 26 March 1951. On 26 December 1952, the applicant was released from active duty and transferred to the Enlisted Reserve Corps to complete his remaining Reserve obligation. He was credited with 1 year, 9 months, and 1 day of active service, which included 11 months and 16 days of foreign service.
4. Item 27 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Citations and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) of the applicant's DD Form 214 shows award of the Combat Infantryman Badge, Korean Service Medal with two bronze service stars, and the United Nations Service Medal. Item 29 (Wounds Received as a Result of Action with Enemy Forces) of his DD Form 214 shows the entry "NONE."
5. There are no general orders that show the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart. There also is no evidence that show he was wounded or treated for wounds as a result of hostile action in Korea. The applicant's name is not listed on the Korean Casualty Roster.
6. The applicant's Army medical treatment records are unavailable.
7. The applicant provided 8 photographs that show scars on both his forearms.
8. Army Regulation 600-8-22 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. There are no orders that show the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart. There is no available evidence of record and the applicant has not provided any corroborating evidence, such as eyewitness accounts from his chain of command at the time or medical personnel who treated his wounds, that show the applicant was wounded or treated for wounds as a result of hostile action.
2. Regrettably, in the absence of military records which show the applicant was treated for wounds as a result of hostile action, the photographs he provided are insufficient as bases for award of the Purple Heart in this case.
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.
__________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) AR20090003399
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20090003399
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