IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  3 November 2011

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20110009701 


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 that the records of her deceased father, a former service member (FSM), be corrected to show award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that her father was awarded the Purple Heart as a result of injuries incurred while being interned as a prisoner of war (POW).  However, it is not reflected on his records and verification is needed to have the Purple Heart added to his headstone.  She goes on to state that she and her sister have seen the previously awarded medal; but neither the medal nor any paperwork authorizing the medal can be located in his personal effects.

3.  The applicant provides copies of:

* the FSM’s death certificate
* the FSM’s WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation Honorable Discharge)
* a Veterans Administration (VA) Rating Decision
* Disabled American Veterans and VA Patient Data Cards
* Documents awarding the FSM the Combat Infantryman Badge and the POW Medal
* the FSM’s final payment sheet

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The FSM's military records are not available for review.  A fire destroyed approximately 18 million service members' records at the NPRC in 1973.  It is believed the FSM'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.

2.  The FSM was born on 20 December 1917 and he was inducted into the Army of the United States on 14 January 1944.  He entered active duty on 4 February 1944 at Camp Upton, New York.  He was assigned to Company C, 423d Infantry Regiment, 106th Infantry Division.  He completed his training as a rifleman at Camp Atterbury, Indiana and on 16 October 1944, he departed with his unit by ship to England for a brief period of training and then to LeHavre, France to replace the 2d Infantry Division on line on 11 December 1944.  

3.  On 16 December 1944, the Germans launched an offensive known as the Battle of the Bulge and the FSM’s regiment was surrounded and completely cut off from U.S. Forces and surrendered to German forces.

4.  The FSM was interned as a POW from 21 December 1944 to 2 April 1945.  The FSM was also paid combat infantryman pay from 16 December 1944 to 1 April 1945. 

5.  After being repatriated he departed the European Theater of Operations on 4 May 1945 and was transferred to the U.S. Army Hospital at Camp Butner, North Carolina where he was treated for furunculosis, peripheral vascular disease of the foot, and malnutrition.

6.  He remained in the hospital until he was honorably discharged on 7 August 1945 with a Certificate of Disability for Discharge.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 issued at the time of his discharge reflects in block 34 under wounds received in action, the entry “None.”  

7.  A review of the available records failed to show any evidence of the FSM being awarded the Purple Heart.  Additionally, there is no indication that he was treated for any wounds or injuries that qualified him for award of the Purple Heart.

8.  Army Regulation 600-45, in effect at the time, provided in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart was awarded for a wound sustained as a result of hostile action. A wound was described as an injury to any part of the body from an outside force, element, or agent sustained as the result of a hostile act of the enemy or while in action in the face of the enemy.  

9.  During World War II and the Korean War the Purple Heart was not awarded to Soldiers who had been injured while in captivity or while being taken captive.  Those injuries were considered to be the result of war crimes and not the result of a legal action of war.  War Department policy required that wounds must have been received in action against the enemy or, in other words, incurred in actual combat.  Executive Order 11016, dated 25 April 1962, provided more latitude with respect to award of the Purple Heart to prisoners of war, as well as the authority to award the decoration to wounded Soldiers even in the absence of a formal declaration of war.  The issue as to whether this change in policy would be implemented retroactively to prisoners of war from World War I, World War II, and the Korean War was considered several times.  Initially it was decided that the change in policy would not be retroactively implemented.  It was concluded it would be inappropriate for the Department of Defense to retroactively change the standards and, in effect, countermand the decisions of the past leadership.  However, as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 1996, Congress authorized award of the Purple Heart to any former prisoner of war who was wounded before 25 April 1962 while held as a prisoner of war, or while being taken captive, in the same manner as a former prisoner of war who was wounded on or after that date.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  While the sincerity of the applicant’s claim that the FSM was awarded the Purple Heart is not in doubt, there simply is not sufficient evidence available to determine that such was the case.

2.  The available evidence does not lend itself to identify what wounds or injuries the FSM sustained while being interned as a POW that would qualify him for award of the Purple Heart.

3.  Unfortunately, the absence of records and the passage of time (65+ years) makes it difficult at best to determine what happened in his case.  Therefore, in the absence of sufficient evidence to show the FSM was awarded the Purple Heart or that he qualified for award of the Purple Heart there is no basis to grant the applicant’s request to add the Purple Heart to the FSM’s records.

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 that 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 her late father in service to the United States 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)                                         AR20110009701



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20110009701



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