BOARD DATE:	  14 July 2011

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20100028341 


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 the military records of his great grandfather, a former service member (FSM), be corrected to show he was awarded the Purple Heart as a result of being wounded during World War I.

2.  The applicant states the FSM deserves the Purple Heart because he was severely wounded on 20 October 1918, according to an Adjutant General Office (AGO) Form 724-9 (Discharge Card).  

3.  He provides:

* an AGO Form 724-9 
* an excerpt of a news article from the State Library of North Carolina, “History 119th, 60th Brigade, 30th Infantry”
* a death certificate
* three birth certificates

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 applicant’s 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 applicant’s failure to timely file.  In all other respects, there are insufficient bases to waive the statute of limitations for timely filing.

2.  The FSM’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 (NPRC) in 1973.  It is believed that the FSM’s records were lost or destroyed in that fire.  However, the NPRC did provide the FSM’s Honorable Discharge and Enlistment Record and, along with evidence provided by the applicant, there is sufficient evidence for the Board to conduct a fair and impartial review of this case.  

3.  The FSM was inducted into the Army on 7 October 1917.  His Enlistment Record contains an item entitled "Battles, engagements, skirmishes, expeditions." That shows he participated in the battle of Bellecourt.  This item indicates the FSM participated in the Somme Offensive (France) campaign during World War I.  It does not show that he received any wounds.  

4.  The applicant provided a copy of an AGO Form 724-9.  This document shows the FSM served with the Machine Gun Company, 119th Infantry during World War I and was wounded in action on 20 October 1918.  

5.  The FSM was honorably discharged on 7 April 1919.  He had completed 
1 year, 6 months, and 1 day of creditable active service.

6.  The FSM's records show he was entitled to additional awards, which were not requested.

7.  George Washington established the “Badge of Military Merit,” as the Purple Heart was originally known, in a New York town on 7 August 1782.  It was awarded to three Soldiers during the Revolutionary War before falling into disuse.  Its use wasn’t again proposed until World War I, when then-Army Chief of Staff General Charles Pelot Summerall requested Congress revive the medal. 
That movement died in 1928, but 3 years later, his successor, General Douglas MacArthur, quietly requested the medal’s design be retooled.  On the observance of George Washington’s 200th birthday (22 February 1932), under general 
orders of the War Department, the medal was revived with a new design and a new name.  However, it still was thought of as an Army decoration; it wasn’t until 1942 that President Franklin D. Roosevelt extended the medal to those serving in other services who were wounded in the 7 December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.  In 1952, President Harry S. Truman carried that action a step further, retroactively granting the medal to any qualified service member back to 5 April 1917. 

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides that the Purple Heart is awarded for wounds sustained as a result of hostile action after 5 April 1917.  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.  

9.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, for the award of the World War I Victory Medal (originally known as the Victory Medal), established by War Department General Order 48, 1919, for service between 6 April 1917 and 11 November 1918.  Final endorsement of the Victory Medal design was given by Secretary of War Newton D. Baker on 14 November 1919.

10.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides for battle clasps, authorized to be worn on the suspension ribbon of the World War I Victory Medal, for each of the major operations in which individuals were actually present under competent orders.  The clasps, with a star on each side of the name of the campaign or one of the defensive sectors, were worn on the suspension ribbon of the medal.  Among the battle clasps authorized is Somme Offensive:  8 August 1918 through 
11 November 1918.  Since battle and service clasps could only be worn on the full sized World War I Victory Medal, bronze service stars were authorized for wear on the award ribbon.  This was the common method of campaign and battle display when wearing the World War I Victory Medal as a ribbon on a military uniform.

11.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 also authorizes for award of a bronze service star, based on qualifying service, for each campaign listed in Appendix B of this regulation.  The regulations state that authorized bronze service stars will be worn on the appropriate campaign and service medal, which in this case is when the World War I Victory Medal is worn as a ribbon.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant contends the FSM was wounded on 20 October 1918.  

2.  The FSM’s Honorable Discharge and Enlistment Record does not show that he received any wounds.  However, the applicant provided a copy of an AGO Form 724-9 that shows the FSM was wounded in action 20 October 1918.  Given this conflicting evidence, any reasonable doubt concerning whether the FSM was wounded in action should be resolved in his favor.  Therefore, he should be awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received on 20 October 1918.  

3.  The final design for the World War I Victory Medal was not approved until after the FSM was discharged.  Therefore, it is likely he never received this award.  Based on his service from 7 October 1917 through 7 April 1919, the FSM was entitled to the World War I Victory Medal.

4.  According the FSM's Enlistment Record, he participated in the Somme campaign.  Therefore, the FSM was entitled to the Somme Offensive clasp to be worn on the suspension ribbon of his World War I Victory Medal.  The FSM was also entitled to one bronze service star when wearing the World War I Victory Medal as a ribbon.

BOARD VOTE:

___x_____  ___x___  ____x___  GRANT FULL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to warrant a recommendation for relief.  As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by:

   a.  awarding the FSM the Purple Heart for wounds received in action on
20 October 1918;

   b.  correcting the FSM's records to show award of the World War I Victory Medal with the Somme Offensive Clasp for display on the suspension ribbon of the World War I Victory Medal;
   
   c.  correcting his records to show award of the World War I Victory Medal with one bronze service star; and
   
   
   d.  issuing the applicant an appropriate document as a result of the above corrections.




      _______ _   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)                                         AR20100028341



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20100028341



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