IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 17 August 2010
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20090020708
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, the son of a deceased former service member (FSM), requests that his late father be awarded the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant provides no explanation.
3. The applicant provides:
* FSM's Honorable Discharge
* FSM's Enlistment Record
* Letter, dated 5 November 2009, from the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri
* Confirmation certificate
* Birth certificate
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. The FSMs 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 FSMs 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.
2. The FSM's Enlistment Record shows he enlisted in the U.S. Army on 31 May 1917. His Honorable Discharge and pay records show he was assigned to Company 3, 1st Battalion of the 153rd "DB" during World War I. On 17 April 1919, the FSM was honorably discharged.
3. The FSMs Enlistment Record shows he sustained a wound to his right knee in October 1918 in the Wounds Received in Service section.
4. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded in the name of the President of the United States to any member of an Armed Force or any civilian national of the United States who, while serving under competent authority in any capacity with one of the U.S. Armed Services after 5 April 1917 has been wounded or killed or who has died or may hereafter die after being wounded in any action against an enemy of the United States.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
The entry on the FSMs Enlistment Record which shows he sustained a wound to his right knee in October 1918 is accepted as sufficient evidence on which to base award of the Purple Heart in this case.
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. posthumously awarding him the Purple Heart for wounds received in action in October 1918; and
b. issuing the Purple Heart to the applicant.
_______ _ 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) AR20090020708
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20090020708
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