IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  15 March 2011

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20100022834 


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 her husband be awarded the Purple Heart and that his records be corrected accordingly.

2.  The applicant states the FSM was eligible for award of the Purple Heart because he was a former Prisoner of War (POW) from 28 March to 13 April 1945.

3.  The applicant provides:

* the FSM’s WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation - Honorable Discharge) for the period ending 7 May 1946
* the FSM’s two Honorable Discharge Certificates, dated 7 May 1946 and 25 June 1953
* the FSM’s DA Form 1383 (Annual or Terminal Statement of Retirement Points), dated 29 September 1952
* page 1 of the FSM’s Department of Veterans Affairs Rating Decision, dated 23 June 2003
* the FSM’s Certificate of Death
* her marriage license to the FSM


CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The FSM's military records are not available 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 to conduct a fair and impartial review of this case.

2.  The FSM was inducted at Fort Jackson, SC on 14 October 1944.  He completed his training as an infantryman and he departed the continental United States (CONUS) for the European Theater of Operations (ETO) on 1 March 1945, arriving there on 8 March 1945. 

3.  The VA Rating Decision provided by the applicant indicates the FSM was captured and held by the Germans from 28 March to 13 April 1945.

4.  He departed the ETO on 29 April 1945 en route to CONUS and he was transferred to Fort Bragg, NC, where he was honorably discharged on 7 May 1946 in the rank of corporal (CPL).  He had served 1 year, 6 months, and
24 days of total active service of which 2 months and 13 days were served overseas.  Item 33 (Decorations and Citations) of his WD AGO Form 53-55 shows the Combat Infantryman Badge, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with three bronze service stars, American Theater Service Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal.

5.  Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) of his WD AGO Form 53-55 shows the entry “NONE.”

6.  A review of the available records failed to show any indication that the FSM was wounded as a result of enemy action or that the FSM received any treatment for any such wounds.

7.  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.

8.  During World War II and the Korean War the Purple Heart was not awarded to Soldiers who had been injured while in captivity or while being taken captive.  


Those injuries were considered to be the result of war crimes and not the result of a legal action of war.  War Department policy required that wounds must have been received in action against the enemy or, in other words, incurred in actual combat.  Executive Order 11016, dated 25 April 1962, provided more latitude with respect to award of the Purple Heart to POWs, as well as the authority to award the decoration to wounded Soldiers even in the absence of a formal declaration of war.  The issue as to whether this change in policy would be implemented retroactively to POWs from World War I, World War II, and the Korean War was considered several times.  Initially it was decided that the change in policy would not be retroactively implemented.  It was concluded it would be inappropriate for the Department of Defense to retroactively change the standards and, in effect, countermand the decisions of the past leadership.  However, as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 1996, Congress authorized award of the Purple Heart to any former POW who was wounded before 25 April 1962 while held as a POW, or while being taken captive, in the same manner as a former POW who was wounded on or after that date.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  While the sincerity of the applicant’s claim that the FSM was a POW and therefore eligible for award of the Purple Heart is not in question, the applicant has failed to show through the evidence of record or the evidence submitted with her application that the FSM was wounded as a result of enemy action and that treatment for such wounds was made a matter of record.

2.  It should also be noted that an individual’s status as a POW is not an automatic entitlement to award of the Purple Heart.  

3.  Therefore, in the absence of evidence to show that the FSM was in fact wounded as a result of enemy action and that treatment was made for such wounds or was identified during his repatriation, there appears to be no basis to award the FSM a Purple Heart at this time.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

____X___  ___X____  ___X____  DENY APPLICATION
BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

1.  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.

2.  The Board wants the applicant and all others concerned to know that this action in no way diminishes the sacrifices made by her late husband in service to the United States during World War II.  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)                                         AR20100022834



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20100022834



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