IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  2 September 2010

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20100009524 


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 first cousin and next of kin of a deceased former service member (FSM), requests posthumous award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states:

* evidence shows the FSM was carried to the burial ground (high water table), placed in a shelter half, and lowered into the pit
* due to the malaria, dysentery, beriberi, pneumonia, dengue fever, and angina, the FSM tried to rise up, but was bludgeoned by the Japanese guard, hence the wounds
* the FSM died of wounds inflicted by the Japanese
* Quartermaster Corps (QMC) Form 1044 (Physical Characteristics) and QMC Form 1045 (Identification Dental Chart) state the FSM had a fractured/crushed maxilla

3.  The applicant provides:

* baptismal certificate
* complete history of the FSM's last years
* DA Form 1577 (Authorization for Issuance of Awards)
* QMC Form 1042 (Report of Interment)
* QMC Form 1044
* QMC Form 1045
* QMC Form 1193 (Receipt of Remains)
* QMC Form 1236 (Request for Reimbursement of Interment or Transportation Expenses)
* WD AGO Form 0365 (Battle Casualty Report)
* document stating the FSM's dental chart at his enlistment showed no teeth were missing
* Office of the Quartermaster General Form 371 (Data On Remains Not Yet Recovered or Identified)
* photographs of the FSM
* letters of fellow Soldiers during the time in question

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 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 the FSM's 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.

3.  Records show the FSM enlisted in the Regular Army on 22 February 1941 and trained in chemical warfare.  On an unknown date, he arrived in the Asiatic-Pacific theater of operations.  Records from the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri, show the FSM was a prisoner of war (POW) from 7 May 1942 to 7 June 1942.

4.  WD AGO Form 52-1 (Report of Death), dated 7 September 1945, shows the FSM (a Japanese POW) died on 7 June 1942 in the Pacific area and the cause of death was malaria.

5.  The Office of the Surgeon General Hospital Admission Card data files show the FSM died of malaria in a Japanese prison camp in June 1942.

6.  A QMC Form 1042, dated 9 March 1946, shows the FSM died on 7 June 1942 and the cause of death was malaria.

7.  There are no orders for the Purple Heart in the available records.

8.  The available records contain a DD Form 2510 (POW Medal Application/Information), dated 4 April 1988, which shows the applicant applied for the POW Medal on behalf of the FSM.  This form shows the applicant provided the following information on behalf of the FSM:  "On or about 7 June 1942 death came as a result of malaria, beriberi, malnutrition, and dysentery during the March of Death and subsequent imprisonment."

9.  The applicant provided a document which states the FSM's dental chart at his enlistment shows there were no missing teeth.  He also provided a QMC Form 1045 which indicates the FSM's maxilla [bone that forms the upper jaw and lodges the upper teeth] was fractured.  There is no evidence of record which shows this injury was the result of hostile action.

10.  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, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant's contention that the FSM died of wounds inflicted by the Japanese was carefully considered.  However, the preponderance of evidence shows the FSM died of malaria in a Japanese prison camp on 7 June 1942.  In April 1988, the applicant reported on a POW Medal application that "On or about 7 June 1942 death came as a result of malaria, beriberi, malnutrition, and dysentery during the March of Death and subsequent imprisonment."

2.  There are no orders for the Purple Heart and there is no evidence of record which shows the FSM was injured or wounded as a result of hostile action during World War II.  Regrettably, there is insufficient evidence on which to base award of the Purple Heart in this case.



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)                                         AR20100009524



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ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

 RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)