BOARD DATE: 14 December 2010
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20100013954
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 award of the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states:
* his record should show he was injured (traumatic brain injury) in the line of duty in a combat area in Korea in May 1951
* item 29 (Wounds Received as a Result of Action with Enemy Forces) of his DD Form 214 (Report of Separation from the Armed Forces of the United States) shows "none"
* Valley Forge Army Hospital should have documented his injury
* records show he was transferred to a field hospital because of a vehicle accident resulting from land mines
* his DD Form 214 does not show he was discharged by reason of physical disability
3. The applicant provides:
* DD Form 214
* history of the 505th Reclamation and Maintenance Company in Korea
* Special Orders, dated 27 January 1954
* WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation)
* military experience and honors
* map of South and North Korea
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. Having prior enlisted service in the Army Air Force during World War II, the applicant was appointed as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) on 20 May 1949. He was ordered to active duty on 20 October 1950 and he arrived in Korea on 18 March 1951.
3. On 18 September 1951, the applicant underwent a separation physical examination and was found qualified for Regular Army officer appointment. He reported his health was "excellent" in item 17 (Statement of Examinee's Present Health in Own Words) of his Standard Form 89 (Report of Medical History). This medical record shows he was involved in a jeep accident in Korea on 8 May 1951, he sustained an injury to his right knee (no fracture), and a "mild fracture" of his left frontal sinus with "no trouble since."
4. A Standard Form 513 (Clinical Record Consultation Sheet), dated 22 November 1951, states the applicant was accidentally injured in a jeep accident in Korea on 8 May 1951. He fractured his left frontal bone and sprained his right knee.
5. The applicant departed Korea on 5 April 1952. On 28 January 1954, he was released from active duty in the rank of first lieutenant and transferred to the USAR Control Group (Reinforcement).
6. The applicant's DD Form 214 does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award. Item 29 of his DD Form 214 shows the entry "none."
7. There are no orders for the Purple Heart in the available records.
8. The applicant's name does not appear on the Korean casualty roster.
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 medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant requests award of the Purple Heart for a traumatic brain injury he sustained from a vehicle accident in May 1951 in Korea from land mines. However, contemporaneous medical evidence of record shows he was accidentally injured in a jeep accident on 8 May 1951 in Korea, not as a result of hostile action.
2. There are no orders for the Purple Heart in the available records. There is no evidence of record which shows the applicant was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action in Korea. Therefore, there is insufficient evidence to support 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 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) AR20100013954
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20100013954
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