BOARD DATE: 20 July 2010
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20100000635
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 his deceased father, a former service member (FSM), be awarded the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states his father never received a Purple Heart while putting his life on the line for his men and country. He states he is not sure of the year but, he knows it happened when his father was deployed on enemy soil between
21 October 1944 and 28 October 1945 in Italy.
3. The applicant provides copies of:
* his birth certificate
* his father's death certificate
* a court order for small estate
* his father's WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation - Honorable Discharge)
* his father's WD AGO Form 100 (Separation Qualification Record)
* his father's discharge certificate
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. 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. The only records available to this Board are the records provided by the applicant. These records are sufficient for the Board to conduct a fair and impartial review of this case.
2. The FSM was inducted and entered into active service into the Army of the United States on 3 April 1941. He was awarded the military occupational specialty of tank driver (1736).
3. The FSM arrived in Italy on 25 November 1944. He departed Italy on 28 October 1945 and returned to the United States on 22 November 1945.
4. On 28 November 1945, the FSM was discharged. He had completed 4 years, 7 months, and 26 days of active service that was characterized as honorable.
5. Item 33 (Decorations and Citations) of the FSM's WD AGO Form 53-55 does not show he was awarded the Purple Heart. Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) contains the entry "none."
6. Army Regulation 600-45 (Decorations), then in effect, which governed the award of Army decorations until 23 August 1951, stated the Purple Heart was awarded to citizens of the United States serving with the Army who were wounded in action against an enemy of the United States or as a direct result of an act of such enemy, provided such wound necessitated treatment by a medical officer.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant contends his father should have been awarded the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant did not make any statement as to what type of injury or wound his father may have received as a result of action against the enemy.
3. Item 34 of the FSM's WD AGO Form 53-55 does not show that he received any wounds in action.
4. There are no official documents or substantiating evidence available to show the FSM was wounded as a result of enemy action. Therefore, regrettably, there is insufficient evidence in this case to award the Purple Heart.
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's father in service to our Nation. The applicant and all Americans should be justifiably proud of his father's 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) AR20100000635
3
ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
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