IN THE CASE OF:	

		BOARD DATE:	  26 January 2010


		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20090010450 


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 suffered a knee injury and ear injury as a result of an enemy artillery explosion in Korea.  He states he is "service connected" with the Department of Veterans Affairs as a result.  He states he was never issued a Purple Heart and requests that his records be corrected to include the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant also states he was treated at a field hospital and then evacuated to a hospital in Tokyo before being evacuated to the Army hospital at Camp Hood, Texas.  He states the information from the Office of the Surgeon General shows the cause of his disability as a battle casualty and he notes he was separated with a disability separation with severance pay.

4.  The applicant provides a copy of his 1952 DD Form 214 (Report of Separation from the Armed Forces of the United States) and a copy of his record from the Office of the Surgeon General files (commonly referred to as the SGO files).

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 are not available for review.  A fire destroyed approximately 18 million service members' records at the National Personnel Records Center in 1973.  It is believed that the applicant's records were lost or destroyed in that fire.  However, there were sufficient documents remaining in a reconstructed record to conduct a fair and impartial review of this case.

3.  The applicant's DD Form 214 indicates he enlisted and entered active duty on 24 June 1948.  That same document shows the applicant served overseas for 2 years and 7 months.

4.  Entries on a DA AGO Form 24A-2 (Service Record), a multi-page form containing entries regarding the applicant's service, including units of assignment, promotions, and wounds, indicates the applicant initially arrived overseas in February 1949 and by May 1949 had been assigned to the 35th Infantry.

5.  The SGO files, a health record research project, 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 National Personnel Records Center (NPRC).  The availability of the information to the NPRC received considerable publicity by the various veterans' service organizations.  It as widely believed that these tapes would become a valuable substitute for the records lost in the NPRC fire of 1973.  The best available estimation of the completeness of this project is that it captured at least 95 percent of all combat casualty hospital admissions.

6.  The SGO files show the applicant was hospitalized on 15 September 1950 for "psychoneurotic disorders, anxiety reaction" and notes that he was not evacuated to the United States.  He was subsequently returned to duty for general service.

7.  An entry on the applicant's DA AGO Form 24A-2 shows that in February 1952 he was assigned to the Medical Holding Detachment in Tokyo, Japan, and in March 1951 was assigned to the Japan Replacement Center.  He ultimately returned to the United States in September 1951 via a replacement center at Fort Lawton, Washington.  By November 1951 he had been assigned to the 701st Armored Infantry Battalion at Camp Hood, Texas.  In December 1951 he was reassigned to the Enlisted Detachment of the 4005th Army Support Unit at Camp Hood.

8.  A second SGO files entry indicates the applicant was hospitalized at Camp Hood in January 1952 for "derangement, internal, of knee."  The causative agent was recorded as "late effects of injury and poisoning:  late effect of injuries due to war operations" and the battle class is recorded as "battle casualty."  That same document indicated that he was separated with severance pay following a physical evaluation board in July 1952.

9.  An entry on the applicant's DA AGO Form 24A-2 confirms he was assigned to the Medical Holding Detachment at the U.S. Army Hospital at Camp Hood from 25 January 1952 until 31 July 1952 when he was discharged by reason of disability separation with entitlement to severance pay.

10.  Section 8 (Wounds Received through Enemy Action) of the DA AGO Form 24A-2 is blank and block 29 (Wounds Received as a Result of Action with Enemy Forces) of his DD Form 214 reflects "none."  There is no indication he was awarded the Purple Heart.

11.  There were no medical records available for review and the applicant's name was not among a list of individuals reported as combat casualties on the Korean War Casualty List.

12.  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.  While the SGO files indicate the applicant's knee condition was recorded as a "battle casualty," there is no other evidence available to the Board or provided by the applicant which confirms the accuracy of that entry on the SGO files.  As noted the SGO files involved transposing the hospital admission card data from the periods of World War II and the Korean Conflict onto magnetic tapes.  The source of the information on the hospital admission card is not identified and could very well have come from information provided by the patient during his or her admission to the hospital.

2.  In this particular case the applicant states that he was treated in the field, evacuated to Japan, and further evacuated to Camp Hood.  However, information available to the Board based on entries on the applicant's DA AGO Form 24A-2 suggests that while he may have been treated at a hospital in Japan, when he arrived at Camp Hood he was actually assigned to a unit before being admitted to the hospital in January 1952.  The entries do not support the applicant's statement that he was evacuated from Japan to Camp Hood, rather the entries suggest the applicant was released from the hospital in Japan and through a series of replacement centers was ultimately assigned to a unit at Camp Hood before being admitted to the hospital in January 1952.

3.  Additionally, there is no evidence which indicates the applicant was treated for a knee condition while in Japan and could very well have been treated for conditions related to the condition for which he was hospitalized in Korea in September 1950 (psychoneurotic disorders, anxiety reaction).

4.  There is no entry on the applicant's DA AGO Form 24A-2 or his DD Form 214 confirming that he was wounded as a result of hostile action while in Korea and the applicant's name is not on the Korean War Casualty List.

5.  In this particular case, in the absence of more compelling medical evidence which supports the accuracy of the information in the SGO files concerning the applicant's knee condition, the Board is reluctant to award the Purple Heart based solely on the SGO files entry.

6.  The applicant and all others concerned should 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.

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)                                         AR20090010450



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20090010450



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