IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 10 May 2011
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20100026201
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 correction of his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation Honorable Discharge) to show award of the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states the Purple Heart is not listed as one of his awards. He learned from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that adding the Purple Heart would increase the amount he receives for medication. He further states the VA informed him that he had been awarded the Purple Heart in the winter of 1945. He was attached to the 2nd Battalion, 304th Infantry Regiment, 30th Division of the 3rd U.S. Army. During an engagement with enemy forces he was wounded in the stomach by shrapnel. He spent 3 days in an Army field hospital for surgery. He was then sent back to the front and convalesced under the care of an Army medic.
3. The applicant provides copies of his WD AGO Form 53-55 and his WD AGO Form 100 (Separation Qualification Record).
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 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 that the applicant's 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.
3. The available copy of the applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he:
a. was inducted into the Army of the United States on 8 September 1944;
b.. was an infantryman with the 2nd Battalion, 304th Infantry Regiment;
c. was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge;
d. participated in the Rhineland and Central Europe campaigns;
e. was awarded the Good Conduct Medal, Army of Occupation Medal, World War II Victory Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Service Medal with two bronze service stars, and the Lapel button.
f. was not wounded in action against the enemy;
g. had served in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) from
8 February to 16 August 1945;
h. had attained the rank of corporal; and
i. was honorably discharged on 1 May 1946.
4. The applicant's WD AGO Form 100 (Separation Qualification Record) shows he completed infantry basic training and performed duty as a rifleman, guard, patrolman, and a supply clerk.
5. Information from the hospital admission cards created by the Office of the Surgeon General, Department of the Army for the year of 1945 shows:
a. admitted to hospital at Camp Shanks, New York, in January 1945 for treatment of nasopharyngitis;
b. treated at dispensary on 30 May 1945 for gonococcal urethritis; and
c. admitted to a hospital on 25 July 1945 for a gonococcal infection.
6. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained 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 a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant contends that his WD AGO Form 53-55 should be corrected to show award of the Purple Heart because he was wounded in the stomach by shrapnel.
2. Unfortunately, the available military records do not contain any evidence showing he applicant was wounded as a result of enemy action. Therefore, his request for award of the Purple Heart should be denied.
BOARD VOTE:
________ ________ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
___X____ ___X___ ___X____ DENY APPLICATION
BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:
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.
__________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) AR20100026201
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20100026201
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