IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 27 October 2011
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20110009795
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, in effect, that he was bayoneted in his right leg by a Japanese Soldier and he was sent to the battalion surgeon for treatment. He is requesting the Purple Heart for this injury. He also states that he was wounded twice by bullets; but none of this is recorded in his records and he believes that this is due to a portion of his records being burned in the fire of 1973. The few documents that he was sent from his reconstructed records were burned.
3. He provides:
* WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation Honorable Discharge)
* An article from the Washington Infantry Journal Press, Public Relations Section, about the 6th Infantry Division in World War II between 1939 and 1945
* A picture of himself
COUNSEL'S REQUEST, STATEMENT AND EVIDENCE:
Counsel provides no requests, statement, or additional evidence in support of the applicant's application.
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 for review. A fire destroyed approximately 18 million service members records at the National Personnel Records Center in 1973. It is believed his records were lost or destroyed in that fire. However, a reconstructed record and the evidence the applicant provided are sufficient to conduct a fair and impartial review of this case.
3. The available evidence shows the applicant was inducted into the Army of the United States on 14 February 1945 and he entered active duty on the same date. He completed the training requirements and he was awarded military occupational specialty 677 (Military Policeman). He served overseas in the Asiatic Pacific Theater of Operations from 13 September 1945 to 3 October 1946, with Company I, 1st Infantry Regiment.
4. He was honorably discharged from active duty, in the rank of private first class, on 5 December 1946.
5. Item 33 (Decorations and Citations) of the applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 does not list the Purple Heart. Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) of his
WD AGO Form 53-55 shows the entry "None" to indicate he was not wounded while he served in the Asiatic Pacific Theater of Operations.
6. There are no orders in his available records that show he was awarded the Purple Heart during his period of service.
7. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards), then in effect, specified the Purple Heart was awarded for a wound sustained while in action against the 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 had required treatment, and the medical treatment must had been made a matter of official record.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicants request for award of the Purple Heart has been carefully considered. By regulation, to be awarded the Purple Heart, it is necessary to establish that a Soldier was wounded or injured in action, the injuries were treated by medical authorities, and were made a matter of official record. There is no evidence available, and he has not provided sufficient evidence, which confirms he was wounded or treated for wounds as a result of hostile action during his period of service. Item 34 of his WD AGO Form 53-55 contains the entry "None" to indicate he did not receive a wound in action against a hostile force.
2. Based on the foregoing, he does not meet the regulatory requirements for award of the Purple Heart; therefore, regrettably he is not entitled to award of the Purple Heart and to have this award added to his WD AGO Form 53-55.
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) AR20110009795
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20110009795
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