IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  10 August 2010

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20100018686 


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, through his Member of Congress, award of the Bronze Star Medal based on his award of the Combat Infantryman badge.  He also requests reconsideration of his earlier request for award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states he was previously awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge and should be entitled to a conversion award of the Bronze Star Medal.  He also adds that his request for award of the Purple Heart should be reconsidered based upon the documentation he previously submitted, an original request signed by the Adjutant, major W.W. VS at his outprocessing center, and his personal affidavit.  Additionally, the WD AGO Form 106 (Request for Decoration and/or Citation) should be considered an official document since his records were destroyed in 1973.

3.  The applicant provides the following documents:

* His previously-submitted WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation), dated 11 June 1946
* His previously-submitted WD AGO Form 106, dated 10 June 1946

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  Incorporated herein by reference are military records which were summarized in the previous consideration of the applicant's case by the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) in Docket Number AR20090009860, on 12 November 2009 and Docket Number AR20090021484, dated 11 March 2010.
2.  The applicant did not submit any new documents pertaining to the Purple Heart; however, he provides a new argument, which was not previously reviewed by the ABCMR; therefore, it is considered new evidence and as such warrants consideration by the Board.

3.  His 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 his 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.

4.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he was inducted in the Army of the United States on 28 April 1944.  This form also shows at the time of his separation, he held military occupational specialty 610 (Anti-tank Gunner) and he was assigned to Company B, 14th Infantry Regiment, 71st Division.

5.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he departed the United States on 26 January 1945 and arrived in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) on 6 February 1945.  He departed the ETO on 28 May 1946 and arrived back in the United States on 6 June 1946.  

6.  He completed 9 months and 3 days of continental service and 1 year, 4 months, and 11 days of foreign service and he was honorably separated on 11 June 1946.

7.  Item 31 (Military Qualifications and Date) of his WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge (General Order Number 11, issued by Headquarters, 14th Infantry on 15 April 1945) and the Sharpshooter Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar (M-1) (Special Orders 173, dated 8 June 1944).

8.  Item 32 (Battles and Campaigns) of his WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he participated in the Central Europe and Rhineland campaigns during his service in WWII.

9.  Item 33 (Decorations and Citations) of his WD AGO Form 53-55 shows the Army of Occupation Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and the Word War II Victory Medal.

10.  Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) of his WD AGO Form 53-55 contains the entry "None."


11.  He previously submitted a copy of a WD AGO Form 106, dated 10 June 1946.  This form is a request from MAJ W.W. VS, an adjutant at the separation center, to the Decorations and Awards Branch, Adjutant General, Headquarters, Department of the Army, wherein the separation branch adjutant stated that he examined the applicant's records and determined there was no Purple Heart awarded for what the applicant claimed as a shrapnel injury to his hand that occurred near Bayreuth, Germany, in or around April 1945.

12.  He also previously submitted an affidavit wherein he stated that he served in the ETO as an infantryman with Company B, 14th Infantry, 71st Division.  While on patrol in Central Europe Rhineland, near Bayreuth, Germany, in April 1945, his unit, along with 2 or 3 other units of the same battalion, encountered heavy artillery and ground assault for a period of approximately 1 1/2 hours.  He remembers seeing trees and tree limbs falling as a result of the artillery.  As he was returning fire, he was struck by three shrapnel pieces to his hand from one of the shells that landed near his unit during the battle.  He was unable to continue his mission without medical attention and was subsequently given first aid in the field.  After treatment, he returned to his mission.  Upon return from Europe, he was outprocessed at Fort Dix, NJ, for separation.  He was given the WD AGO Form 106 by a commissioned officer who certified the form and advised him that the Purple Heart would be mailed to him.  He never received it.

13.  His reconstructed records do not contain a War Department Letter Order from The Adjutant General's Office that awarded him the Purple Heart.

14.  The WWII regulation that governs the use of forms is not available for review with this case.  However, historically, the WD AGO Form 106 was used by separation centers to document requests for awards by enlisted members based on their affidavits and/or certification.  A personnel officer at the separation center would take the enlisted member's statement and submit the WD AGO Form 106 to The Adjutant General, Decorations and Awards Branch, Washington DC, for disposition.

15.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides for the following awards: 

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


	b.  The Bronze Star Medal is awarded to members of the armed forces who, after 6 December 1941 and prior to 3 September 1945, have been cited in orders or in a formal certificate for meritorious or exemplary conduct in ground combat against the armed enemy.  A citation in orders for the Combat Infantryman Badge or Combat Medical Badge awarded in the field during the period of actual combat against the armed enemy is considered as a citation for exemplary conduct in ground combat.

	c.  The European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal is awarded for service within the European African-Middle Eastern Theater between 7 December 1941 and 8 November 1945.  The regulation also authorizes a bronze service star based on qualifying service for each campaign listed in appendix B of this regulation or listed in item 32 of the WD AGO Form 53-55.  This regulation states that authorized bronze service stars will be worn on the appropriate campaign or service medal including the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant contends he should be awarded the Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart.  

2.  The evidence of record shows he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge.  Based on his entitlement to the Combat Infantryman Badge, he is entitled to award of the Bronze Star Medal correction of his WD AGO Form 53-55 to show this award.

3.  His records show he was awarded the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal.  Furthermore, his records show he participated in two campaigns during his service in WWII.  Therefore, he is entitled to two bronze service stars to be affixed to his European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal.

4.  With respect to the Purple Heart, his contention that he should be awarded the Purple Heart for an injury to his hand caused by shrapnel from an artillery shell near Bayreuth, Germany, in April 1945 and the evidence he submitted was carefully considered.  However, there is insufficient evidence to grant him the Purple Heart in this case.

5.  The criteria for an award of the Purple Heart requires the submission of substantiating evidence to verify that the injury/wound was the result of hostile action, the injury/wound must have required treatment by medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record. 
6.  In this case, the WD AGO Form 106 submitted by the applicant at the time of his separation was based on his affidavit and testimony at the time with no substantiating documentary evidence of the injury and/or the medical treatment.  Additionally, there is no indication the Adjutant General published orders to award him the Purple Heart.  The WD AGO Form 106 is a request.  It is not an authority to award a particular decoration.  Additionally, his personal chronicles and recollection of events in the form of an affidavit were noted.  However, chronicles of events, which were prepared and/or are submitted more than 60 years after the fact, do not by themselves conclusively prove he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action.  

7.  There is no evidence in his reconstructed records that shows he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action or treated for such wounds or his treatment was made a matter of official record.  Regrettably, absent evidence which conclusively shows he sustained wounds or injuries as a result of hostile action, that he was treated by medical personnel for those wounds or injuries, and that this treatment was made a matter of official record, there is insufficient basis for awarding the Purple Heart to the applicant.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

____x____  ____x____  ____x____  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

1.  The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to warrant a recommendation for partial relief.  As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by adding to item 33 of the applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 the Bronze Star Medal, and two bronze service stars to be affixed to his already-awarded European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal.

2.  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 to amend the decision of the ABCMR set forth in Docket Number AR20090009860, on 12 November 2009 and Docket Number AR20090021484, dated 11 March 2010, as pertains to the Purple Heart.
3.  The Board wants the applicant and all others concerned to know that this action in no way diminishes the sacrifices made by the applicant in service to our Nation.  The applicant and all Americans should be justifiably proud of his service in arms.



      _______ _   _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)                                         AR20100018686





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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20100018686



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