IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  2 December 2010

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20100012235 


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 widow of a deceased former service member (FSM), requests correction of the FSM's military records to show award of the Purple Heart for wounds received during World War II. 

2.  The applicant states the FSM should have received the Purple Heart while he was alive.   The applicant has carefully reconstructed the timeline of the FSM's service to show his hospitalizations.

3.  The applicant provides two letters to her Congressman.  The second letter, dated 18 March 2010, includes the following enclosures:

* Recounting of the FSM's service history (3 pages) - states the FSM was hospitalized in North Africa for shrapnel in both legs and left ankle
* Honorable Discharge Certificate
* Enlisted Record of the FSM
* Western Union telegrams dated 2 and 18 November 1943
* 43rd Station Hospital - Proceedings of Classification Board
* Newspaper article - 10 November 1943 - Reporting FSM safe
* V-Mail Service envelope and a train baggage tag
* Newspaper articles concerning the Bristol Regional Medical Center
* Photograph of FSM, circa 1940's
* FSM's Certificate of Death - 3 April 2009
* WD Form Number 371 (Final Payment Roll) - September 1944



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 (NPRC) in 1973.  It is believed that the FSM's records were lost or destroyed in that fire.  However, the applicant has provided sufficient documents for the Board to conduct a fair and impartial review of this case.

3.  The FSM's Honorable Discharge Certificate and Enlisted Record show:

	a.  he was assigned to the 16th Infantry Regiment;

	b.  he participated in the Italian Campaign during 20 to 25 September 1943;

	c.  his awards included the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal,  American Theater Campaign Medal, and the Good Conduct Medal;

	d.  he did not receive any wounds while in service; and 

	e.  he left the U.S. on 14 July 1943; arrived in North Africa on 21 July 1943; left Palermo, Sicily on 19 September 1943; arrived in Salerno, Italy on 
20 September 1943; left Italy on 4 January 1944, and arrived in the U.S. on 
13 January 1944.

4.  The Western Union telegrams:

	a.  dated 2 November 1943 stated the FSM was missing in action as of 
24 September 1943; and

	

	b.  dated 8 November 1943 stated the FSM was hospitalized on 
24 September 1943 in the North African area; was not missing in action as previously reported; and had been released from the hospital on 20 October 1943.

5.  The Proceedings of Classification Board, which convened on 20 October 1943, at the 43rd Station Hospital, show that the FSM was assigned at the time to Headquarters, 29th Replacement Battalion.  A brief medical history [partly illegible] states that the FSM was with the 1st Division in North Africa in July 1943, then went to Sicily where he served in combat for 1 month with a light weapons platoon.  Then he went to Italy and was in combat for 10 days.  The FSM was a nervous individual in life but got along fairly well in the Sicily Campaign.  The diagnosis is mostly unreadable, but indicated psychoneurosis, moderate, cause combat condition.  There is no indication of the FSM receiving wounds as a result of enemy action. 

6.  The newspaper article dated 10 November 1943, states the FSM was hospitalized from 24 September to 20 October 1943.  It does not specify his injuries or wounds.

7.  A health record research project, commonly referred to as the "SGO Files," involved transposing the hospital admission card data from the period of World War II onto magnetic tape.  In 1988 the National Research Council made these tape files available to the NPRC.  The availability of the information to the NPRC received considerable publicity by the various veterans' service organizations.  It was widely believed that these tapes would become a valuable substitute for the records lost in the NPRC fire of 1973. 

8.  A search of the SGO files failed to find a record of the FSM's hospitalization in North Africa, or elsewhere.

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 required treatment by a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant requests the FSM be awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received during World War II.

2.  The available evidence is sufficient to show that the FSM was hospitalized in North Africa for approximately 1 month in 1943.  The evidence (the applicant's recounting of his service history) provided by the applicant indicates the FSM received shrapnel in his legs and left ankle.  However, there is no corroborating documentation.  There is no SGO file available for review.  Unfortunately, the available evidence is insufficient upon which to base an award of the Purple Heart.

3.  Should the applicant have, or be able to obtain, documentary evidence such as statements from individuals who were in North Africa and had personal knowledge of the FSM's wounds and can attest they were received as a result of enemy action, she may submit another application for consideration.

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)                                         AR20100012235





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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20100012235



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