IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  15 September 2011

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20110005332 


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 reconsideration of his earlier request to amend his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation – Honorable Discharge) to add his Purple Heart (PH) through his Member of Congress (MOC).

2.  His MOC states the applicant is having difficulty getting the PH added to his separation document.  The applicant was injured during operations in World War II (WWII) while serving in France around November or December 1944.

3.  His MOC adds that the applicant's was awarded the PH for his sacrifice during his recovery in the hospital, but unfortunately his separation document never reflected this award.  The only evidence the applicant has to show he was awarded the PH is the shrapnel in his body and the fact that he was awarded medical disability by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

4.  The applicant provides copies of:

* his WD AGO Form 53-55
* his VA medical records

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  Incorporated herein by reference are military records which were summarized in the previous consideration of the applicant's case by the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) in Docket Number AR2002082586 on 17 June 2003.

2.  The applicant provides copies of his VA medical records, which are considered to be new evidence in the processing of his case.

3.  The applicant's complete 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 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.

4.  The applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he was inducted into the Army of the United States on 29 September 1942 and entered active duty on 13 October 1942.  At the time of his separation, he held military occupational specialty 601 (Anti-Aircraft Gunner) and was assigned to Battery B, 195th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion.

5.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he departed the continental United States (CONUS) on 2 January 1944 and arrived in the European theater of operations (ETO) on 8 January 1944.  He departed the ETO on 18 October 1945 and arrived in CONUS on 28 October 1945.  He completed 1 year, 3 months, and 5 days of continental service and 1 year, 9 months, and 27 days of foreign service.  He was honorably discharged on 3 November 1945.

6.  The applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 also shows the following:

	a.  Item 32 (Battles and Campaigns) – Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes, Rhineland, and Central Europe;

	b.  Item 33 (Decorations and Citations) – does not show award of the PH; and

	c.  Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) – is blank.

7.  The applicant provides copies of his VA medical records ranging in date from 16 April 1990 to 9 August 2002.  A transcript of the chest x-ray displayed the presence of a metallic fragment which by history was a piece of shrapnel from military service and its location was over the region of the aortic arch.  The injury was sustained during WWII and its position remained unchanged.

8.  His records are absent any military medical records or other documentation to show he sustained his injury as a result of hostile action.

9.  The applicant's military service records do not contain any general orders awarding him the PH and a query of the NPRC health record tapes from WWII failed to yield any results showing the applicant was wounded in action.

10.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states the PH 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 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.

11.  The Office of the Surgeon General files, a health record research project, involved transposing hospital admission card data from the periods of WWII and the Korean Conflict onto magnetic tape.  In 1988, the National Research Council made these tape files available to the NPRC.  It was widely believed that these tapes would become a valuable substitute for the records lost in the NPRC fire of 1973.  The best available estimation of the completeness of this project is that it captured at least 95 percent of all combat casualty hospital admissions.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant contends he is entitled to have the PH added to his WD AGO Form 53-55 for injuries received during WWII.

2.  He provides medical records from the VA, dated 5 February 2004.  These records indicate the presence of shrapnel located over the region of the aortic arch and determined the wound was directly related to the military service.  However, there are no military records which were prepared at the time of the applicant's alleged wounding or at the time of his separation from the Army that confirm he was wounded as a result of hostile action.

3.  Notwithstanding the VA medical evaluation record which was prepared nearly 60 years after the alleged wounding, the applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 prepared at the time of his separation from the Army clearly indicates the applicant was not wounded as a result of hostile action.  Regrettably, based on these facts there is still insufficient evidence in this case upon which to add the PH to his separation document.



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 the overall merits of this case are insufficient as a basis to amend the decision of the ABCMR set forth in Docket Number AR2002082586, dated 27 June 2003.

2.  The Board wants the applicant and all others concerned to know this action in no way diminishes the sacrifices made by him in service to the United States during WWII.  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)                                         AR20110005332



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20110005332



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