IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 12 April 2011
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20100025341
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 that he be awarded the Purple Heart for wounds sustained during the Battle of the Bulge.
2. The applicant states that he did not receive the award of the Purple Heart for wounds received during the Battle of the Bulge.
3. The applicant provides two pages from his Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) claims folder.
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 applicants 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 applicants failure to timely file. In all other respects, there are insufficient bases to waive the statute of limitations for timely filing.
2. The applicant's military records are not available for review. A fire destroyed approximately 18 million service members' records at the NPRC in 1973. It is believed the applicant'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.
3. The applicant was inducted on 17 February 1943 and entered active duty in Syracuse, New York on 24 February 1943. He completed his training initially as a truck driver and on 1 January 1945 was transferred to Company E, 23d Infantry Regiment for duty as an infantryman.
4. He departed for the European Theater of Operations (ETO) on 12 February 1944 and arrived in the ETO on 19 February 1944. He participated in the Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes, Rhineland and Central Europe Campaigns and he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) on 22 January 1945. On 21 February 1945 he was promoted to the rank of Staff Sergeant.
5. He departed the ETO on 13 July 1945 and arrived in the United States on 20 July 1945. He was transferred to Camp Swift, Texas where he was honorably discharged on 22 October 1945. His WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation Honorable Discharge) shows that he was awarded the CIB, the Good Conduct Medal and the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Service Medal and in block 24 under Wounds Received in Action is the entry None. The applicant authenticated that form with his signature and right thumb print.
6. A review of the available records which includes that applicants final separation physical examination fails to show any indication that the applicant was wounded as a result of enemy action or that treatment was made a matter of record.
7. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained in action against an enemy or as a result of hostile action. Substantiating evidence must be provided to verify 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. While the sincerity of the applicants claim that he should be awarded the Purple Heart is not in doubt, he has failed to show through the evidence of record and the evidence submitted with his application sufficient evidence to support his contention.
2. The available evidence fails to show that he was wounded in action and that treatment for such wounds was made a matter of record.
3. Therefore, in the absence of sufficient evidence to support his claim, there appears to be no basis to award him the Purple Heart at this time.
4. In order to justify correction of a military record the applicant must show to the satisfaction of the Board, or it must otherwise satisfactorily appear, that the record is in error or unjust. The applicant has failed to submit evidence that would satisfy this requirement.
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 to know that the sacrifices he made in service to the United States during World War II are deeply appreciated. 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) AR20100025341
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20100025341
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