IN THE CASE OF:	

		BOARD DATE:	 23 February 2010 

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20090014242 


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, as the daughter of a deceased former service member (FSM), requests correction of her late father's WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation) to show award of the Purple Heart and the Prisoner of War (POW) Medal.

2.  The applicant states that the FSM's records do not reflect receipt of the Purple Heart or the POW Medal.  She contends that the FSM was held prisoner by Germany from 1 January 1945 to 12 May 1945.

3.  The applicant provides, in support of her application, a WD AGO Form 0718 (Requisition to Philadelphia Quartermaster Depot), subject: Letter Order for the Purple Heart, dated 25 January 1946; a WD AGO Form 100 (Separation Qualification Record); an Army Service Forces, Second Service Command, Reception Station Number 2, Fort Dix, NJ, True Extract Copy of Liberated POW Payroll Check Payment; her Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Certification of Birth; the FSM's obituary; a WD AGO Form 625 (War Department Application for Dependency Benefits), dated 20 June 1944; and a copy of the FSM's WD AGO Form 53-55.

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 FSM’s 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 FSM’s 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.  

3.  The FSM was inducted into the Army of the United States and he entered active service on 17 June 1944.  He served as a rifleman in the European Theater of Operations from 23 November 1944 through 16 June 1945.  He was honorably discharged on 13 March 1946.

4.  Item 33 (Decorations and citations) of the FSM's WD AGO Form 53-55 shows the Army Good Conduct Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with two bronze service stars, and the World War II Victory Medal as authorized awards.  The FSM's WD AGO Form 53-55 further shows entitlement to the Combat Infantryman Badge, Sharpshooter Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle and Carbine Bars, and the Army Lapel Pin.  Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) of his WD AGO Form 53-55 shows the entry, “None.”  His WD AGO Form 53-55 also shows he served 1 year, 1 month, and 10 days of continental service.

5.  There are no orders for the Purple Heart in the available records.  However, the applicant provided a WD AGO Form 0718, dated 25 January 1946, from The Adjutant General.  This form states, in pertinent part, that the Secretary of War directs that the Purple Heart be forwarded for presentation to the FSM for wounds received in action on or about 1 February 1945 in the European area.

6.  The FSM's WD AGO Form 100 states, in pertinent part, that he was held as a POW by Germany from 1 January 1945 to 12 May 1945.

7.  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, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 also provides, in pertinent part, for award of the POW Medal.  The regulation states that the POW Medal was authorized on 8 November 1985 and is awarded to individuals who in past armed conflicts were taken prisoner or held captive.

9.  Army Regulation 600-45 (Decorations), effective 13 October 1949, provided in pertinent part, that 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.  This means, in effect, that the Bronze Star Medal is to be awarded to individuals who were authorized either badge for service during World War II.

10.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 further provides, in pertinent part, for award of the American Campaign Medal.  This campaign medal is awarded for qualifying service in the American Theater between 7 December 1941 and 2 March 1946.  Qualifying service includes permanent assignment outside the continental United States, duty as a crewmember aboard a vessel sailing ocean waters for
30 consecutive or 60 nonconsecutive days, or duty outside the continental United States as a passenger or in a temporary duty status for 30 consecutive or
60 nonconsecutive days, or active combat against the enemy and was awarded a combat decoration or furnished a certificate by a corps commander or higher, or service within the continental United States for an aggregate period of 1 year.

11.  Department of the Army Technical Manual (TM) 12-235 (Enlisted Personnel - Discharge Procedures and Preparation or Separation Forms), in effect at the time, stated, in pertinent part, that for item 34, enter the date wounded and theater.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  There are no orders for the Purple Heart.  However, the 25 January 1946 WD AGO Form 0718 provided by the applicant states the Secretary of War directed that the Purple Heart be forwarded and presented to the FSM for wounds received in action on or about 1 February 1945 in the European area.

2.  Any reasonable doubt should be resolved in the FSM’s favor; therefore, the WD AGO Form 0718 is accepted as a sufficient basis for adding the Purple Heart to the FSM's WD AGO Form 53-55.  In addition, item 34 of the FSM's WD AGO Form 53-55 should be corrected to show he was wounded in action on or about
1 February 1945 in the European Theater of Operations.

3.  Evidence of record shows the FSM was a POW in Germany from 1 January 1945 to 12 May 1945.  Therefore, his WD AGO Form 53-55 should be corrected to show the POW Medal.

4.  Based on award of the Combat Infantryman Badge, the applicant is entitled to award of the Bronze Star Medal.

5.  The FSM served a period of qualifying service for award of the American Campaign Medal based on active duty service within the continental United States for an aggregate period of 1 year between 17 June 1944 and 13 March 1946.

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 FSM the POW Medal and the Bronze Star Medal (based on award of the Combat Infantryman Badge);

	b.  adding to item 33 of the FSM's WD AGO 53-55 the Purple Heart, POW Medal, Bronze Star Medal, and the American Campaign Medal;


	c.  deleting from item 34 of the FSM's WD AGO Form 53-55 the entry "None" and replacing it with the entry "On or about 1 February 1945, European Theater of Operations"; and

	d.  providing the applicant a correction to the FSM's WD AGO Form 53-55 as a result of these changes.



      __________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)                                         AR20090014242



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20090014242



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