IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 3 February 2011
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20100016389
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, in effect, that the records of her deceased father, a former service member (FSM), be corrected to show award of the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states the FSM should be authorized the Purple Heart based on injuries he received at Dickebush and Scherpenburg Line during World War I. She states the injuries he received led to his return to the States. Due to time limitations and separation from his unit at the time of the injury, the award was either not submitted or it may have been authorized after he returned home.
3. The applicant provides copies of the FSM's enlistment record and discharge documents in support of her request.
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 enlisted in the U.S. Army on 25 September 1917. He received an honorable discharge on 2 April 1919.
3. The FSM's enlistment record shows:
a. in the "Battles, Engagements, Skirmishes, Expeditions" section that he was at the Dickebush and Scherpenburg Line from 23 August 1918 until he was wounded 27 August 1918. The "Wounds Received in Service" section states "gas burns right leg." The "Remarks" section states the applicant served in France. He left the United States on 10 May 1918 and arrived back in the United States on 6 March 1919; and
b. award of the Victory Medal.
4. There are no orders or other evidence that show the FSM was awarded the Purple Heart.
5. The Purple Heart was established by General George Washington at Newburgh, NY, on 7 August 1782 during the Revolutionary War. It was reestablished by the President of the United States per War Department General Orders Number 3 in 1932. It was awarded in the name of the President of the United States to any member of the Armed Forces or any civilian national of the United States who, while serving under competent authority in any capacity with one of the U.S. Armed Services after 5 April 1917, died or sustained wounds as a result of hostile action. Effective 19 May 1998, award of the Purple Heart is limited to members of the Armed Forces of the United States.
6. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained while in action against an enemy or 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 contends that the FSM's records should be corrected to show award of the Purple Heart because he was wounded at the Dickebush and Scherpenburg Line during World War I.
2. There is evidence in the FSM's military service record that shows he was wounded in action (gas burns right leg) on 27 August 1918. Furthermore, his wounds were of such significance as to require his removal from the front lines as noted in his records. Within months of his wounding, he was returned to the United States. Accordingly, it is reasonable to presume the FSM was given medical treatment for such wounds and had to recover sufficiently to endure the trip home.
3. In view of the above and as a matter of equity and justice, the FSM should posthumously be awarded the Purple Heart.
BOARD VOTE:
___X____ ____X___ ____X___ GRANT FULL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION
BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:
The Board determined the evidence presented is sufficient to warrant a recommendation for relief. As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by posthumously awarding the FSM the Purple Heart for wounds received in action on 27 August 1918.
__________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) AR20100006875
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20100016389
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