BOARD DATE: 22 June 2010
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20090021779
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 that he be awarded the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states he received a shrapnel wound to his left wrist that was treated by field medics and he was sent back to his unit. He also states that no report of the incident was made; however, he has a visible scar on his left wrist as proof.
3. The applicant provides a 1-page statement explaining his application.
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 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 were sufficient documents remaining in a reconstructed record to conduct a fair and impartial review of this case.
3. The applicant enlisted in the Regular Army in the Territory of Hawaii on 14 August 1950 for a period of 3 years. At the time of his enlistment, he indicated that he had an operation on his left wrist in 1945. In his entrance medical examination, the applicant indicated that a small metal foreign body was removed from his left wrist in 1945.
4. He completed basic training and training as a clerk typist at Fort Ord, California. He was transferred to the replacement depot at Camp Drake, Japan, for onward movement to Korea in December 1952.
5. He departed Korea in July 1953 and was transferred to Schofield Barracks, Territory of Hawaii, where he was honorably discharged on 13 August 1953 due to the expiration of his term of service. He had served 3 years of total active service and his DD Form 214 (Report of Separation from the Armed Forces of the United States) issued at the time of his discharge shows that he was awarded the Korean Service Medal with one bronze service star and the United Nations Service Medal.
6. In item 29 (Wounds Received as a Result of Action with the Enemy) of his DD Form 214 is the entry "none."
7. The available records also contain a claim for combat pay submitted by the applicant in October 1953 in which he claimed he was due combat pay for the months of May and June 1953. He claimed no wounds or injuries at that time.
8. A review of the available records fails to show any evidence regarding the applicant being wounded in Korea and his name is not contained on the Korean War Casualty Listing.
9. 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 been treated by a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official records.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant's contention that he should be awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received in action in Korea has been noted; however, the applicant has failed to show through the evidence submitted with his application and the evidence of record sufficient evidence to support his contention.
2. While the applicant contends that he has a scar on his left wrist as proof of his wound, that in itself is not sufficient to establish his claim because he claimed at the time of his enlistment that he had surgery on his left wrist.
3. Therefore, without documentation to show that he was treated for wounds/
injuries that were the result of enemy action, it would be difficult at best to ascertain what happened in his case.
4. Accordingly, it must be presumed that what the Army did at the time was correct and that the applicant is not entitled to award of the Purple Heart.
5. 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 that requirement.
BOARD VOTE:
________ ________ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
___x_____ ____x____ ____x_ DENY APPLICATION
BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:
1. 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.
2. The Board wants the applicant and all others concerned to know that this action in no way diminishes the sacrifices made by the applicant in service to the United States during the Korean War. The applicant and all Americans should be justifiably proud of his service in arms.
____________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) AR20090021779
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20090021779
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