BOARD DATE:	  9 December 2010

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20100022963 


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, reconsideration of his request for award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that he is entitled to award of the Purple Heart for injuries he received while he was a prisoner of war (POW) in Germany during World War II.  He states he received injuries to his neck, back, and shoulder when a train he was on was bombed, which is corroborated by an eyewitness statement.  He also states while he was a POW a German guard struck him with a rifle butt breaking two ribs and he received shrapnel wounds from German anti-aircraft fire.  He is unable to provide records of medical treatment for these injuries because POWs did not receive medical treatment from the Germans.

3.  The applicant provides no new documentation in support of his request.

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 AR20050001610, on 30 August 2005, and Docket Number AR20060009088, on 9 November 2006.

2.  The applicant submitted 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.  The applicant was inducted into the Army of the United States on 25 June 1943 and he entered active service on 9 July 1943.  He arrived in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) on 15 December 1944.  He served in the ETO until 14 May 1945, at which time he departed en route to the continental United States, arriving on 26 May 1945.

4.  On 6 September 1945, the applicant was honorably discharged under the provisions of Army Regulation 615-361(Enlisted Men - Discharge - Medical) with issuance of a Certificate of Disability for Discharge.  Item 33 (Decorations and Citations) of his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation - Honorable Discharge) does not show award of the Purple Heart.  Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) contains the entry "None."

5.  The applicant provides a statement, dated 7 February 2005, from a fellow POW confirming the applicant was injured when a train he was on was bombed in Germany in 1945.  The statement does not specify the type of injury.

6.  Review of POW records maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration confirms the individual providing the statement and the applicant were assigned to the same unit and captured on or about the same date in January 1945.

7.  An imaging report, dated 4 March 2004, from a Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) shows the following findings:

* "There is probably old healed fracture deformity of the right first and second ribs."
* "In addition, there is distortion of the right scapula which is stable compatible with an old fracture."

8.  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.

9.  Section 521a of the National Defense Authorization Act of 1996 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.  Section 521b specifically stated that award of the Purple Heart for a POW under Section 521a shall be made in accordance with the standards in effect on the date of the enactment of this Act to persons wounded on or after 25 April 1962.

10.  War Department Technical Manual (TM) 12-235 (Enlisted Personnel - Discharge and Release from Active Duty), in effect at the time, prescribed the separation documents that must be prepared for Soldiers on retirement, discharge, release from active duty service, or control of the Active Army.  It established standardized policy for preparing and distributing the WD AGO Form 53-55.  It stated for item 34, enter the date wounded and theater.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence of record partially supports the applicant's request for award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states he received three injuries that entitle him to award of the Purple Heart.  The statement he provides corroborates his account of being injured when a train he was on was bombed while he was a POW in Germany.  A medical examination confirmed an old injury consistent with the applicant's account of the incident.  

3.  It is reasonable to presume the applicant would have sought and received medical treatment for a fractured scapula had such treatment been available and that the treatment would have been made a matter of official record.  Based on the available evidence, he is entitled to correction of his record to show award of the Purple Heart for wounds received in 1945.

4.  Based on the wounds he received while a POW in 1945, he is entitled to correction of item 34 of his WD AGO Form 53-55 to show he was wounded in 1945 in the ETO.

5.  However, the applicant has not provided any medical documentation or eyewitness statements to corroborate his claim that he was injured by a German guard and by shrapnel from German anti-aircraft fire.  In the absence of such evidence, there is no basis for award of the Purple Heart for these injuries.


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 partial amendment of the ABCMR’s decisions in Docket Numbers AR20050001610, dated 30 August 2005, and AR20060009088, dated
9 November 2006.  As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by:

	a.  awarding him the Purple Heart for wounds received in 1945 while a POW in the ETO;

	b.  adding to item 33 of his WD AGO Form 53-55 the Purple Heart; and

	c.  deleting from item 34 of his WD AGO Form 53-55 the entry "None" and replacing it with the entry "1945, European Theater of Operations."

2.  The Board further determined that the evidence presented is insufficient to warrant a portion of the requested relief.  As a result, the Board recommends denial of so much of the application that pertains to a second and third award of the Purple Heart.



      __________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)                                         AR20100022963



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20100022963



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