BOARD DATE: 13 September 2011
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20110005577
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 three awards of the Purple Heart.
2. He states he was granted three awards of the Purple Heart by his unit, 75th Infantry Division, for wounds he received in combat during World War II.
3. He provides copies of the following:
* WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation -Honorable Discharge)
* Three pages from "The Doughfoot," dated October 1945
* Certificate, dated 29 November 1945
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 applicants military records are not available to the ABCMR for review. A fire destroyed approximately 18 million service members records at the National Personnel Records Center in 1973. It is believed that the applicants records were lost or destroyed in that fire. However, there were sufficient documents remaining for the ABCMR to conduct a fair and impartial review of this case.
3. Records available to the Board show the applicant was inducted into the Army of the United States on 23 March 1943 and entered active duty on 30 March 1943. He served in the European African Middle Eastern Theater of Operations from 24 November 1944 to 10 March 1946 and he was honorably discharged on
27 March 1946.
4. Item 33 (Decorations and Citations) of his WD AGO Form 53-55 does not show the award of the Purple Heart. Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) lists "None."
5. There is no evidence in the available records which show he sustained wounds or was treated for wounds incurred as a result of hostile action.
6. He provided three pages from "The Doughfoot," which consists of 6 monthly published booklets. Each booklet was titled "The Doughfoot." The booklets were published by and for the 289th Infantry Regiment of the 75th Division during World War II between May and October 1945. The pages the applicant provided are from the Final Edition, dated October 1945, which contains three photographs of Soldiers on patrol and/or reconnaissance missions during the Battle of the Belgium Bulge.
7. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides, in pertinent part, 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:
There are no medical records available which show the applicant was wounded or treated for wounds as a result of hostile action during his service in World War II. Regrettably, in the absence of medical records supporting his contention, there is insufficient evidence to correct his records to show any awards of the Purple Heart 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 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) AR20110005577
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20110005577
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