BOARD DATE: 20 July 2010
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20090020626
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 his father, a deceased former service member (FSM), be corrected to show award of the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states he was going through his parent's papers and came across a request for award of the Purple Heart for his father. He states that his father told him and his siblings when they were young that "he was in the coconut tree to scout."
3. The applicant provides:
* WD AGO Form 106 (Request for Decoration and/or Citation)
* WD AGO Form 100 (Army Separation Qualification Record
* National Archives and Records Administration Form 13038 (Certification of Military Service)
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 for review. A fire destroyed approximately 18 million service members' records at the National Personnel Records Center in 1973. It is believed the FSM'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 FSM enlisted and entered active duty in the Regular Army on 25 November 1939. His WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation Honorable Discharge) shows he arrived in Australia in July 1943 and returned to the United States in September 1945. That same form shows the FSM was awarded a Combat Infantryman Badge, as well as the Asiatic-Pacific Service Medal and the Philippine Liberation Ribbon.
4. On 12 September 1945, the FSM was discharged with an honorable characterization of service. Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) of his WD AGO Form 53-55 reflects "none."
5. The WD AGO Form 106 submitted by the applicant in support of his request for award of the Purple Heart to his father was completed the day the FSM was separated from active duty at the separation center at Fort Bliss, Texas. The FSM claimed to have been awarded the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster by Troop E, 8th Cavalry, 1st Infantry Division, on or about 15 March 1945 based on injuries sustained when he:
a. broke his arm in a fall from a coconut tree and was treated at the 21st Evacuation Hospital in Luzon and
b. sustained a gunshot wound to his left arm by enemy rifle fire and was treated at the 8th Cavalry dispensary.
6. There were no medical records available to the Board or provided by the applicant.
7. In October 2009, the FSM's WD AGO Form 53-55 was corrected by officials at the Army's Military Awards Branch to reflect additional awards he was entitled to as a result of his military service during World War II. In correspondence to the applicant, the Chief, Military Awards Branch, noted that in order to confirm entitlement to the Purple Heart for the FSM, documentation verifying he was injured as a direct result of enemy action and that treatment for his injuries was made a matter of official record was required.
8. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides 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. Although the FSM may have requested award of the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster as part of his separation processing in 1945, that is not evidence he was, in fact, entitled to the awards.
2. In the absence of evidence confirming the FSM was wounded as a result of hostile action during World War II, there is no basis to award him the Purple Heart.
3. In order to justify correction of a military record, the applicant must show to the satisfaction of the Board or it must otherwise satisfactorily appear that the record is in error or unjust. The applicant has failed to submit evidence that would satisfy this requirement.
4. The applicant and all others concerned should know that this action in no way diminishes the sacrifices made by his father in service to our Nation. The applicant and all Americans should be justifiably proud of his father's 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) AR20090020626
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