BOARD DATE: 27 September 2011
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20110005795
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 was injured when he stepped on a land mine on
25 March 1945 at Saarlautern, Germany and he never received a Purple Heart. He goes on to state that he was hospitalized for 2 weeks before being returned to his unit.
3. The applicant provides a copy of his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation - Honorable Discharge).
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 members' records at the National Personnel Records Center in 1973. It is believed the applicant's 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 Army of the United States on 2 March 1943 and entered active service on 9 March 1943 at Fort Leavenworth, KS.
4. He completed his training and he departed for the European Theater of Operations (ETO) on 10 January 1945, arriving in the ETO on 25 January 1945. He participated in the Rhineland and Central Europe campaigns.
5. He departed the ETO en route to the continental United States (CONUS) on 17 March 1946, arriving back in CONUS on 28 March 1946. He was transferred to Jefferson Barracks, MO where he was honorably discharged on 2 April 1946 in the rank of Technician 3. The WD AGO Form 53-55 he was issued at the time of his discharge shows in:
a. item 31 (Military Qualification and Date) the:
* Combat Infantryman Badge
* Marksman Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar
* Marksman Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Carbine Bar
b. Item 33 (Decorations and Citations) the:
* American Theater Ribbon
* European-African-Middle Eastern Theater Ribbon with two bronze service stars
* World War II Victory Medal
* Army Good Conduct Medal
c. Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) the entry None.
6. Information from the hospital admission cards created by the Office of the Surgeon General, Department of the Army for the year 1945 shows that the applicant was treated as a battle casualty for a blast injury incurred by a land mine while afoot on 25 March 1945.
7. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) 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.
8. War Department Technical Manual 12-235 (Enlisted Personnel - Discharge and Release from Active Duty), in effect at the time, prescribed the separation documents prepared for Soldiers upon retirement, discharge, or release from active military service or control of the Army. It established standardized policy for the preparation of the WD AGO Form 53-55. It stated for item 34, enter the date wounded and theater.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicants contention that he should have been awarded the Purple Heart has been noted and found to have merit.
2. The applicant was injured as a result of enemy action in World War II on 25 March 1945 in the ETO when he sustained a blast injury from a land mine and he was hospitalized for treatment.
3. Accordingly, it would be appropriate at this time to award him the Purple Heart for wounds received in action on 25 March 1945 and to correct his WD AGO Form 53-55 to show this award.
4. It would also be appropriate to correct his WD AGO Form 53-55 to show he was wounded in action on 25 March 1945 in the ETO.
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 him the Purple Heart for wounds received in action on 25 March 1945;
b. adding to item 33 of his WD AGO Form 53-55 the Purple Heart; and
c. deleting from item 34 of his WD AGO Form 53-44 the entry "None" and replacing it with the entry "25 March 1945, European Theater of Operations."
___________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) AR20110005795
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