BOARD DATE:	  20 April 2010

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20090019474 


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 the records of her deceased brother, a former service member (FSM), be corrected to show his full name as "H****d W**e" instead of "H****d W. S***d."  

2.  The applicant states that her mother divorced and remarried a man whose last name was "S***d."  She gave her son, the FSM, the last name "S***d" without her new husband ever legally adopting him.  The FSM was then killed in action and his true father set about correcting the FSM's last name from "S***d" to "W**e."  The issue may have previously come before a board in 1948 since Army correspondence shows that the FSM's headstone was corrected to show the last name as "W**e" vice "S***d."  However, any record of correction was destroyed in the 1973 fire at the St. Louis repository.  The family would like a document issued or reissued, including a correction to the casualty report, showing his last name as "W**e."

3.  The applicant provides a copy of a birth certificate, dated 22 February 1927; a copy of the FSM's casualty report; copies of letters, dated 27 and 29 October 1948; and a copy of the FSM's obituary, in support of her request.  

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's enlistment or induction document which would have showed the name he used upon entering military service is not available for review with this case.

4.  His WD AGO Form 52-1 (Report of Death) shows he entered active duty on 30 July 1942 and was killed in action on 30 July 1942 in the European Theater of Operations.  This document shows his full name as "H****d W. S***d." 

5.  On 27 October 1948, by letter addressed to his father's attorney, the commander of the Records Administration Center, Office of the Adjutant General, St. Louis, MO, stated that on 26 October 1948, the official records of the FSM were corrected to show his true name as "H****d W**e" and his correct date of birth as "22 February 1927."  He added that all inquiries or correspondence relating to his military service should refer to his true name as "H****d W**e." 

6.  On 29 October 1948, by letter from his father's attorney, to the commander, Records Administration Center, Office of the Adjutant General, St. Louis, MO, the attorney stated that there was one more outstanding matter related to the FSM's marker or headstone.  The FSM was buried in the National Cemetery, Knoxville, TN, on 31 August 1948.  The attorney inquired about a written directive to be issued to ensure the marker or headstone reflected the FSM's true name.

7.  Information from the hospital admissions cards, created on 12 April 2007, by the Office of the Surgeon General, for the year 1945, listed the service number "13065915" as belonging to an enlisted man, who held an infantry specialty, and was killed in action on 21 March 1945 in the ETO.

8.  The FSM's reconstructed records contain a VA Form 3-7202a (Master Index Card) listing the name "H****d W**e S***d," private (PVT), service number "13065915" as having enlisted on 30 July 1942 and killed in action on 21 March 1945.  

9.  The applicant provided a copy of a birth certificate issued by the Commonwealth of Virginia, which shows "H****d W**e" was born on 22 February 1927 to S****y W***e" and "E**a W***e."

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant contends that the records of her deceased brother should be corrected to show his true name.

2.  The FSM's induction or enlistment record is not available for review with this case.  However, regardless of whether the FSM's step-father adopted him or not, the available records show the FSM used the last name "S***d" during his military service.  This last name is consistent with the last name shown on his death report as well as the VA master index card.  

3.  The Army has an interest in maintaining the accuracy of its records for historical purposes.  The information in those records should reflect the conditions and circumstances that existed at the time the records were created.  

4.  Nevertheless, his sister, the applicant, provided a copy of a letter from the commander of the Records Administration Center, St. Louis, MO, stating that the FSM's records were corrected to show his true name as "H****d W**e."  Therefore, based on the available evidence, the FSM's Report of Death should be corrected by issuing an appropriate document that corrects his full name from "H****d W. S***d" to "H****d W**e." 

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 deleting the full name "S***d, H****d W." from the FSM's WD AGO Form 52-1 and adding the full name "W**e, H****d." 



      _______ _   __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)                                         AR20090019474



3


ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

 RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


1

ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20090019474



4


ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

 RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


1