IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  19 October 2010

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20100009077 


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 who holds a Durable Power of Attorney, requests his father's record, known in these proceedings as the Veteran, be corrected to show he was wounded in battle on Okinawa in 1945 and that he received the Purple Heart for his wounds.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, the Veteran's DD Form 214 (actually his WD AGO Form 53-55 [Enlisted Record and Report of Separation – Honorable Discharge]) does not show award of the Purple Heart.  He states the Veteran has had in his possession the Purple Heart medal and ribbon for wounds he received during World War II.  By correcting the Veteran's record, it will affirm and document for the Veteran, his family and future generations the service and sacrifice the Veteran provided to the United States.

3.  The applicant provides the following documentary evidence in support of the Veteran's application:

	a.  a letter from the applicant, dated 23 January 2010;

	b.  photographs of the Veteran's Purple Heart and World War II service decorations and medals;

	c.  a copy of the Veteran's WD AGO Form 53-55;

	d.  excerpts from the Veteran's personal history compiled in 2004; and

	e.  correspondence from the National Personnel Records Center.

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 Veteran'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.  The available record is the Veteran's WD AGO Form 53-55 with a separation date of 22 June 1946.

3.  The Veteran was inducted into the Army of the United States on 14 September 1944 and immediately entered active duty.  The Veteran completed basic combat training and his military occupational specialty upon his separation was number 345 (Truck Driver).  The unit identified on his WD AGO Form 53-55 was Company H, 381st Infantry Regiment.

4.  The Veteran served in the Asiatic Pacific Theater of operations from 11 March 1945 to on or about 16 June 1946 when he returned to the United States.  Item 32 of his WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he served in one campaign, the Ryukyus (Islands).   

5.  A review of the Office of the Surgeon General Hospital Admission Cards for the years 1942 to 1945 failed to show evidence that the Veteran received medical treatment for combat wounds.

6.  The Veteran's available military personnel and medical records are devoid of documents showing he was injured during combat operations, that he received medical treatment for combat injuries, or that he was awarded a Purple Heart by publication of official orders. 
7.  On 22 June 1946, the Veteran was honorably discharged due to demobilization of the Armed Forces.  He received a WD AGO Form 53-55 upon discharge which shows the following entries:

	a.  item 31 (Military Qualification and Date), the Combat Infantryman Badge and the "Expert Rifle" known as the Expert Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar;
   
	b.  item 33 (Decorations and Citations) 

* Asiatic Pacific Theater Service Ribbon
* Philippine Liberation Medal
* Good Conduct Medal
* Victory Medal

	c.  item 34 (Wounds Received in Action), "None."

8.  As evidence to support his application, the son of the Veteran provided large photographic copies of a Purple Heart, Combat Infantryman Badge, Rifle Bar, and service ribbons.  In addition, he provided an excerpt from the Veteran's autobiography that states:

I was wounded but didn't leave the front lines.  It wasn't a bullet that had my name on it but a red-hot piece of shrapnel from a 150 mm shell.  When shells that size burst, shrapnel flies everywhere over a large area.  A piece of shrapnel hit just below my left knee.  It felt red-hot like a branding iron and the wound bled . . . it didn't penetrate too far so I knocked it off.  Someone asked me if I wanted to go to the aid station and have the wound taken care and I told them no, so they just poured some disinfectant on it and closed it with a tight bandage.  My knee didn't hurt too much, and I felt safer staying with my squad than going back to the aid station . . . maybe I should have had it stitched up or something, but it didn't seem worth it at the time and it got me a Purple Heart. 

9.  As additional evidence, the applicant provided a letter detailing how he and his wife recorded the detailed oral history of the Veteran who served during World War II to include the battles on Okinawa from April through June 1945.  The applicant states his father's personal history is an honest account of events that he experienced during the battle for Okinawa.  He states:

some of his statements are understated, especially his fact-of-the matter statement that it got me the Purple Heart.  His descriptions of the battles, fears and events are very personal, and very telling of a young draftee from a small, rural farming town in northern Utah who . . . admittedly, none of the above constitutes conclusive documentation that my father was wounded and did receive the Purple Heart, but the logic, circumstance and existing evidence presents, I think, a reasonable case that my father was awarded a Purple Heart. 

10.  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.  This regulation stated that for the purpose of considering an award of the Purple Heart, a "wound" is defined as an injury to any part of the body from an outside force, element, or agent sustained while in action in the face of the armed enemy or as a result of a hostile act of such enemy.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant, the son of an elderly disabled World War II combat Veteran, contends his father received the Purple Heart for combat wounds incurred during World War II while serving in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations.  

2.  Award of the Purple Heart requires that a Soldier wounded by hostile forces must have received medical treatment by medical personnel, that the injury or wound must be documented in military medical records, and permanent orders must be published announcing the award.

3.  The Veteran's WD AGO Form 53-55 shows that no wounds were treated by military medical personnel and documented in his official service record.  The Office of the Surgeon General files for World War II also does not show the Veteran received medical treatment for wounds incurred during combat operations.  In addition, the applicant has not provided any medical evidence from the Veteran's period of active duty that shows he sustained combat wounds and that these wounds were medically treated and documented in official records.  

4.  While he provided an excerpt from the Veteran's autobiography that states the Veteran was wounded and that the Veteran received medical treatment on the battlefield by a medic, this personal history is considered insufficient evidence because it is not corroborated by medical records or orders.  The Board does not doubt the validity of the Veteran's statement that he received a wound to his left 


knee from shrapnel and that a Soldier cleaned and bandaged his wound.  However, the medic or Soldier who provided medical treatment did not document the treatment in official military medical records.

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)                                         AR20100009077





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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20100009077



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