IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  8 April 2010

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20090015649 


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 correction of his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation Honorable Discharge) to show award of the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star Medal.

2.  The applicant states that he was shot in the right foot while engaged with the enemy near Koslar, Germany, in November 1944.  He was treated at the battalion aid station and returned to duty.  Ten days later, he returned to the aid station and was sent to England where he was hospitalized until April 1945.

3.  The applicant provides copies of his WD AGO Form 53-55; a letter from the Hawarden Community clinic, dated 27 July 2009; Letter Orders, dated 3 January 1956, awarding him the Bronze Star Medal based on his Combat Infantryman Badge; five letters that he wrote in 1944 and 1945; and a portion of a book, undated, and apparently written after the end of the war.

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 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 applicant's records were lost or destroyed in that fire.  However, there are sufficient documents available for the Board to conduct a fair and impartial review of this case.

3.  The applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 shows:

	a.  he was inducted into the Army of the United States on 24 June 1943 and entered active duty on 8 July 1943;

	b.  he departed the continental United States for the European Theater of Operations (ETO) on 2 September 1944;

	c.  he served in the ETO from 15 September 1944 to 7 April 1946;

	d.  his unit was E Company, 116th Regiment, 29th Infantry Division;

	e.  he participated in the Rhineland campaign;

	f.  in item 33 (Decorations and Citations) he was awarded the American Theater Service Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge, and the Sharpshooter Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar;

	g.  that he had not received any wounds in action;

	h.  he had attained the rank of Technician Fourth Grade; and

	i.  he was discharged on 25 April 1946.

4.  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.

5.  Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-1 (Unit Citation and Campaign Participation Credit Register) lists the unit awards received by units serving in World War II.  This document shows that the 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division, during the time of the applicant's assignment, was authorized award of the Army of Occupation Medal with Germany Clasp.

6.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, for award of the World War II Victory Medal.  It is awarded for service between 7 December 1941 and 31 December 1946, both dates inclusive.

7.  The applicant provided two undated newspaper clippings.  One clipping states that the applicant was slightly wounded in action in Germany.  He was removed to a hospital in Holland and later to England by plane.  He informed his parents that he had submitted to an operation on his foot.  The other clipping states that the applicant was still in a hospital in England suffering from an injured foot and the he did not say what was the matter with his foot.

8.  The applicant provided copies of five letters he wrote during World War II.  The following are extracted comments about his injury:

   a.  3 October 1944:  No mention of being injured.

   b.  1 December 1944:  "They got me back in Holland now - in a hospital!"  "Nothing serious they're just fixing my right foot that got a little bunged up."

	c.  5 December 1944:  no mention of his injury, but appears to have been written while in the hospital.

	d.  9 April 1945:  "Today marks my 122nd day in the hospital (that is since I came off the line)".  He further wrote that he was leaving the hospital the next day on 7 days furlough en route back to his unit.

	e.  18 April 1945:  No mention of foot injury.

9.  Letter Orders, dated 3 January 1956, Office of the Adjutant General, Records Administration Center, St. Louis, MO, notified the applicant that he had been awarded the Bronze Star Medal for exemplary conduct in ground combat against the armed enemy on or about 24 October 1944, in the ETO.  This awarded was based on his award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.



10.  The applicant provided pages numbered 13 through 17, titled Book III, Off to War - June 1943; pages numbered 18 through 23, titled Book IV, War Stories; and pages numbered 24 and 25, titled Book V, War is Over.  The following extracts referred to his injury:

	a.  Page 21:  "A German bullet hit the surface of the road then ricocheted sideways into my foot and knocked my feet out from under me."  "…battalion aid…cleaned me up and gave me a choice:  go back to division on the ambulance for a week's healing, or go back to the company with a strong and clean bandage that should hold until we come off line for reserve…I chose the latter."

	b.  Page 23:  "A couple medics carried me back to the same first aid station that wrapped my foot 10 days ago.  One look and I was loaded into an Army ambulance and division headquarters and region hospital.  One more quick look and I was taken off to an airfield for transport in an old C47 transport plane to [a location] near London."

11.  A letter, dated 27 July 2009, from the Hawarden Community Clinic states that the applicant's recent amputation of his right leg below the knee was possibly due to his shrapnel injury during World War II.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant contends that his WD AGO Form 53-55 should be corrected to show award of the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star Medal.

2.  Award of the Purple Heart requires substantiating evidence verifying that the wound was the result of hostile action, that the wound required treatment by medical personnel, and that the medical treatment was made a matter of official record.  Unfortunately, the available evidence in this case does not sufficiently show that the applicant's hospital stay was the direct result of enemy action.  Furthermore, there is no available evidence documenting his medical treatment.  Therefore, his request for award of the Purple Heart should be denied.

3.  Letter Orders clearly show that the applicant was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his exemplary conduct on 24 October 1944.  Therefore, this award should be shown on his WD AGO Form 53-55.

4.  Records show that the applicant's unit was awarded the Army of Occupation Medal with Germany Clasp.  Therefore, his WD AGO Form 53-55 should be corrected to show this award.

5.  Records show that the applicant served during a qualifying period for award of the World War II Victory Medal.  Therefore, his WD AGO Form 53-55 should be corrected to show this award.

BOARD VOTE:

___X___  ________  ___X____  GRANT FULL RELIEF 

________  ___X___  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

1.  Notwithstanding the staff DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS above in regard to the Purple Heart, the majority of the Board noted the applicant had submitted considerable evidence showing he was wounded as a result of hostile action and appears to have been hospitalized as a result of those wounds.  Although official military medical records are not available more than 60 years later, the majority of the Board believed any reasonable doubt concerning his eligibility for award of the Purple Heart should be resolved in his favor.

2.  Therefore, the majority of the Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to warrant a recommendation for full relief.  As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by:

	a.  awarding him the Purple Heart for wounds received in November 1944; and

	b.  adding to item 33 of his WD AGO Form 53-55 the Purple Heart, Bronze Star Medal, Army of Occupation Medal with Germany Clasp, and the World War II Victory Medal.



      __________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)                                         AR20090015649



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20090015649



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