BOARD DATE: 6 September 2011
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20110003306
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 DD Form 214 (Report of Separation from the Armed Forces of the United States) to show award of the Prisoner of War (POW) Medal and the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states his DD Form 214 does not include these two awards. As a result, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has put him in a lower priority group affecting his ability to make use of his VA benefits. He further states that he served in the Korean Conflict as a combat engineer.
3. The applicant provides a copy of his DD Form 214.
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 member's records at the National Personnel Records Center in 1973. It is believed that his records were lost or destroyed in that fire. However, there are sufficient documents available to conduct a fair and impartial review of this specific request.
3. The applicant's DD Form 214 shows that:
a. he was inducted into the Army of the United States on 2 December 1952;
b. he served overseas for a period of 11 months and 6 days;
c. he was awarded the Korean Service Medal and the United Nations Service Medal;
d. he was assigned to the 835th Engineer Aviation Battalion;
e. he was released from active duty on 1 December 1954 with an honorable characterization of service; and
f. he had attained the rank of corporal and had completed 2 years of creditable active duty service.
4. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards):
a. 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.
b. states the POW Medal was authorized on 8 November 1985 and is awarded to individuals who in past armed conflicts were taken prisoner or held captive after 5 April 1917. The Prisoner of War Medal is to be issued only to those U.S. military personnel and other personnel granted creditable U.S. military service who were taken prisoner and held captive:
* while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States
* while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force
* while serving with friendly forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party
* while serving with friendly forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party
* by foreign armed forces that are hostile to the United States, under circumstances which the Secretary concerned finds to have been comparable to those under which persons have generally been held captive by enemy armed forces during periods of armed conflict
5. The applicant's name does not appear on the Korean War Casualty List as a combat casualty.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant contends that his DD Form 214 should be corrected to show award of the POW Medal and the Purple Heart.
2. There are no available general orders showing that the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart. The applicant's name is not listed on the Korean Casualty Roster.
3. Unfortunately, his military personnel and service medical records are not available for review. Without documentary evidence, the applicant's request for award of the POW Medal or the Purple Heart should not be granted.
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) AR20110003306
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20110003306
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