IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  8 September 2011

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20110004811 


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 award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states he should be awarded the Purple Heart for wounds he received in Sicily in 1943.  

3.  The applicant provides:

* WD AGO Form 55 (Army of the United States (AUS) Honorable Discharge Certificate), dated 20 September 1944
* Enlisted Record, dated 20 September 1944
* statement of eligibility for the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal and the Army Good Conduct Medal, undated
* 51st Station Hospital Form 100, dated 11 November 1943
* memorandum, Headquarters, Army Service Forces Training Center, Fort Belvoir, VA, dated 18 May 1944
* General Orders Number 5, Headquarters, 60th Infantry Regiment, dated 23 June 1944
* letter from his physician, Dr. Jon W. Cxxxxx, dated 13 September 2010 

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 applicant's complete military records are not available for review.  A fire destroyed approximately 18 million service members’ records at the National Personnel Records Center in 1973.  It is believed his 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 into the AUS on 13 June 1942.  

4.  His Enlisted Record shows:

* his Army specialty number was 324 (Stock Clerk)
* he departed for the European theater of operations on 25 October 1942 and arrived on 8 November 1942
* on 15 December 1943, he departed the European theater of operations and arrived in the U.S. on 24 December 1943
* he participated in the African, Sicilian, and Tunisian campaigns
* he was awarded the European-African-Middle Eastern Ribbon [Campaign Medal] with 4 battle stars, the Army Good Conduct Medal, and the Combat Infantryman Badge
* he suffered no wounds while in service

5.  On 20 September 1944, he was honorably discharged from the Army with a certificate of eligibility issued by the Veterans Administration (now known as the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)).  

6.  He provides 51st Station Hospital Form 100, dated 11 November 1943, which documents the proceeding of a medical board convened to consider his medical condition.  This form states:

	a.  The applicant was first seen by medical personnel in August 1943, due to the onset of tremors, battle dreams, headaches, insomnia, poor appetite, and moderate startle reaction.

	b.  He was evacuated at the end of August 1943, and remained hospitalized with no improvement.  His mental state was characterized as "anxious looking, 22 years old, trembles and has a complaining attitude, but is not unreasonable.  Slightly depressed, at times is irritable."

	c.  After a thorough review of the applicant and his clinical records, the board diagnosed him with "psychoneurosis, severe, manifested by anxiety, tremor, battle dreams, and headaches."

7.  He also provides a letter from his physician, Dr. Jon W. Cxxxxx, dated          13 September 2010, which states:

While fighting in Sicily, his machine gun nest was struck by a German mortar and he was blown out of the nest and suffered shrapnel wounds and a severe concussion.  He subsequently required prolonged hospitalization with marked debilitation and significant cachexia and weight loss.    
 
8.  The Purple Heart was established by General George Washington at Newburgh, NY on 7 August 1782 during the Revolutionary War.  It was reestablished by the President of the United States per War Department General Orders Number 3 in 1932.  It was awarded in the name of the President of the United States to any member of the Armed Forces or any civilian national of the United States who, while serving under competent authority in any capacity with one of the U.S. Armed Services after 5 April 1917, died or sustained wounds as a result of hostile action.  

9.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is authorized for wounds sustained as a result of hostile action while directly engaged with enemy forces or at the hands of captors while in a POW status.  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.  A wound is defined as an injury to any part of the body from an outside force or agent sustained under the above conditions.  A physical lesion is not required, however, the wound for which the award is made must have required treatment by a medical officer and records of medical treatment for wounds or injuries received in action must have been made a matter of official record.  Specific examples of injuries or wounds which clearly do not qualify for award of the Purple Heart are as follows:  frostbite or trench foot; heat stroke; food poisoning not caused by enemy agents; chemical; biological; or nuclear agents not released by the enemy; battle fatigue; disease not directly caused by enemy agents; accidents; self-inflicted wounds; post traumatic stress disorders and jump injuries not caused by enemy action.  For a brief period during WWII the Purple Heart was awarded for frostbite injuries incurred during direct combat missions.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant contends he should be awarded the Purple Heart.

2.  Notwithstanding the submitted medical documentation, the evidence of record fails to confirm he was wounded in combat; nor does it link his medical condition, as it existed at the time of his discharge, to any particular combat event.    

3.  Army Regulations do not allow for the Purple Heart to be awarded for medical conditions such as those diagnosed in the applicant's medical documentation.  In view of the foregoing, there is an insufficient basis to grant relief in this case.  

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 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)                                         AR20090012380



3


ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

 RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


1

ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20110004811



4


ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

 RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


1