IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  7 May 2009

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20090003479 


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, the son of a deceased former service member (FSM), requests, in effect, that his father be awarded the Purple Heart and that he [the applicant] be provided his father's United States flag.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that his father had a Purple Heart when he was killed in a car accident in 1957; however, his uncle lost it or something.  He was only 22 months old when this happened.  He believes that his father was injured while in Italy in 1944.  He is aware that a lot of the records were burned.

3.  In support of his application, the applicant submitted a copy of his father's Certificate of Death and a copy of his own Certificate of Live Birth.

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.  According to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Federal Benefits for Veterans and Dependents (2008 Edition), a United States flag is provided, at no cost, to drape the casket or accompany the urn of a deceased veteran who served honorably in the U. S. Armed Forces.  It is furnished to honor the memory of a veteran’s military service to his or her country.  VA will furnish a burial flag to memorialize the military service of veterans who received other than a dishonorable discharge.  Eligible recipients include:

   a.  veterans who served during wartime; 
      
   b.  veterans who died on active duty after 27 May 1941;
      
   c.  veteran who served after 31 January 1955; 
      
   d.  peacetime veterans who were discharged or released before 27 June 1950;
      
   e.  certain persons who served in the organized military forces of the Commonwealth of the Philippines while in service of the U.S. Armed Forces and who died on or after 25 April 1951; and 
      
   f.  certain former members of the Selected Reserves.

Generally, the flag is given to the next-of-kin, as a keepsake, after its use during the funeral service.  When there is no next-of-kin, VA will furnish the flag to a friend making a request for it.  For those VA national cemeteries with an Avenue of Flags, families of veterans buried in these national cemeteries may donate the burial flags of their loved ones to be flown on patriotic holidays.  Since the ABCMR is not responsible for the issuance of flags to veterans and to family members of deceased veterans and no effective relief can be granted in conjunction with this issue, this issue will not be referred to further in this Record of Proceedings.  The applicant is urged to visit with the nearest VA representative to inquire about the possibilities of receiving a flag to memorialize his father's service to the armed forces of the United States.

3.  The FSM's service record is not available for the Board's review.  A fire destroyed approximately 18 million service members’ records at the National 


Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in 1973.  It is believed that the applicant's records were lost or destroyed in that fire however, there were sufficient documents on file in a reconstructed record for the Board to conduct a fair and impartial review of this case.

4.  The FSM's reconstructed record shows he was inducted into the Army of the United States on 29 July 1943 and entered active service at Camp Grant, Illinois, on 19 August 1943.  He was honorably separated in the grade of Private First Class, on 7 November 1945, as a field lineman, in the military occupational specialty 641.

5.  Item 33 (Decorations and Citations) of the FSM's WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation - Honorable Discharge) shows he was awarded the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater Ribbon, with three bronze battle stars; the Good Conduct Medal; the Bronze Star Medal; the World War II Victory Medal; and two overseas service bars.  The Purple Heart is not shown on his WD AGO Form 53-55.

6.  Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) of the FSM's WD AGO Form 53-55 shows the entry, "None."

7.  Item 55 (Remarks) of the applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he was issued the Lapel Button [correctly known as the Honorable Service Lapel Button, World War II].

8.  No "SGO (Surgeon General Office) Files" reports were found in the FSM's reconstructed service record.  The "SGO Files" is a health record research project, which involved transposing the hospital admission card data from the periods of World War II and the Korean conflict onto magnetic tape.  In 1988, the National Research Council made these tape files available to the NPRC.  The availability of the information to the NPRC received considerable publicity by the various veterans' service organizations.  It was widely believed that these tapes would become a valuable substitute for the records lost in the NPRC fire of 1973.  It is estimated that the SGO files document 95 percent of all hospitalized battle casualties from World War II and the Korean War.

9.  The FSM's son provided no documentary evidence to corroborate his contention that his father sustained an injury in Italy during World War II.

10.  Army Regulation 600-45 (Decorations) dated 22 September 1943, as changed on 3 May 1944, provided for award of the Purple Heart to members of the armed forces of the United States and to civilians who were citizens of 


the United States serving with the Army, who were wounded in action against an enemy of the united States, or as a direct result of an act of such enemy, provided such wound necessitated treatment by a medical officer.  For the 
purpose of awarding the Purple Heart, a wound is defined as an injury to any part of the body from an outside force, element, or agent in the face of the enemy.  Army Regulation 600-45 also provided, in pertinent part, that a wounded Soldier's unsupported statement could be accepted in unusual or extenuating circumstances when, in the opinion of the officer making the award, no corroborative evidence was obtainable; however, the statement would be substantiated, if possible.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  To be awarded the Purple Heart, substantiating evidence must be provided to verify that the FSM was wounded as the result of hostile action, the wound must have required medical treatment, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

2.  There is no evidence, such as an "SGO Files" reports in the FSM's reconstructed service record, which would reveal that the FSM was injured and treated for an enemy-inflicted injury.  The FSM's reconstructed records contain no documentary evidence and the applicant provided no documentary evidence his father received a wound in Italy during World War II as a result of hostile action.  

3.  The FSM's WD AGO Form 53-55 shows no award of the Purple Heart in Item 33 and shows an entry of "None" in Item 34.  Regrettably, based on the available evidence in this case, there is insufficient evidence on which to base award of the Purple Heart.

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.




      _______ _   _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)                                         AR20090003479





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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20090003479



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