IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 11 October 2011
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20110006613
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. He states he was burned during combat in Germany and spent 54 days in the hospital in France. He never received a Purple Heart for that incident. His records were burned in the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) fire on 12 July 1973 and only partial records remain.
3. He provides 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 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 to the Board for review. A fire destroyed approximately 18 million service members' records at the 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.
3. His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he was inducted into the Army of the United States on 22 September 1943 and he entered active service on 13 October 1943. He served in the European theater of operations from 28 July 1944 to 20 March 1946. His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows the entry "None" in item 34 (Wounds Received in Action).
4. His WD AGO Form 100 (Separation Qualification Record) shows he served as a demolition specialist with the 111th Engineer Regiment, 36th Infantry Division, in the European theater of operations from December 1944 to March 1946.
5. He was honorably discharged on 11 April 1946. His WD AGO Form 53-55 does not show he was awarded the Purple Heart.
6. The Office of the Surgeon General files (commonly referred to as the SGO files), a health record research project, involved transposing hospital admission card data from the periods of World War II 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. A search of these files found the applicant had been admitted to a general hospital on 20 April 1945 for a non-battle injury due to burns on his arm and leg from an explosion of ammunition while on a work detail.
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 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.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant contends he was burned during combat in Germany and spent 54 days in the hospital in France. However, the SGO files show he was hospitalized for a non-battle injury of burns to his arm and leg on 20 April 1945 he sustained during a work detail in the European theater of operations.
2. There is no evidence or medical documentation which indicates the applicant was wounded as a result of hostile action during World War II. In addition, his WD AGO Form 53-55 does not reflect he received any wounds in action.
3. In the absence of corroborating evidence of record which shows the applicant was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action during World War II, there is insufficient evidence upon which to base award 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:
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 for correction of the records of the individual concerned.
2. The Board wants the applicant and all others concerned to know that this action in no way diminishes the sacrifices made by him in service to our Nation
during World War II. 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) AR20110006613
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20110006613
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