BOARD DATE:	  1 November 2011

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20110011186 


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 her deceased husband, a former service member (FSM), be awarded the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states her late husband had the distal phalanx of his left middle finger shot off during the Asiatic Pacific Campaign.  He never received the Purple Heart for this wound.  He was awarded service-connected disability compensation for this injury by the Veterans Administration.

3.  The applicant provides:

* FSM's certificate of death
* FSM's Honorable Discharge Certificate
* FSM's WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation - Honorable Discharge)

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The FSM's military records are not available to the Board for review.  A fire destroyed approximately 18 million service members’ records at the National Personnel Records Center in 1973.  It is believed that his 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.

2.  The FSM’s WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he was inducted into the Army of the United States on 6 November 1942 and he entered active duty at Camp Grant, IL, on 20 November 1942.  This form also shows at the time of his separation he held military occupational specialty 844 (Cannoneer Light Artillery) and he was assigned to Battery B, 906th Field Artillery Battalion, 81st Division.

3.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he departed the continental United States (CONUS) on 9 July 1944 and arrived in the Pacific Theater of Operations (PTO) on 16 July 1944.  He departed the PTO on 11 January 1946 and arrived back in CONUS on 23 January 1946.  He completed 1 year, 7 months, and 26 days of continental service and 1 year, 6 months, and 15 days of foreign service.  He was honorably separated on 30 January 1946.

4.  Item 31 (Military Qualifications and Date) of his WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he was awarded the Marksman Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar.

5.  Item 32 (Battles and Campaigns) of his WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he participated in the Southern Philippines (Liberation) and Western Pacific campaigns during his service in World War II. 

6.  Item 33 (Decorations and Citations) of his WD AGO Form 53-55 shows award of the American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with two bronze service stars, Philippine Liberation Medal with one bronze service star, Good Conduct Medal, World War II Victory Medal, three overseas service bars, and one service stripe. 

7.  Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) of his WD AGO Form 53-55 contains the entry "None."

8.  His medical records are not available for review with this case.  There are no official orders in his reconstructed records that show he was awarded the Purple Heart. 

9.  The Purple Heart was established by General George Washington at Newburgh, New York on 7 August 1782 during the Revolutionary War.  It was reestablished by the President of the United States per War Department General Orders Number 3 in 1932.  It was awarded in the name of the President of the United States to any member of the Armed Forces or any civilian national of the United States who, while serving under competent authority in any capacity with one of the U.S. Armed Services after 5 April 1917, died or sustained wounds as a result of hostile action.

10.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides, in pertinent part, that 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:

	a.  Examples of enemy-related injuries which clearly justify award of the Purple Heart are as follows:  injury caused by enemy bullet, shrapnel, or other projectile created by enemy action; injury caused by enemy placed mine or trap; injury caused by enemy released chemical, biological, or nuclear agent; injury caused by vehicle or aircraft accident resulting from enemy fire; and/or concussion injuries caused as a result of enemy generated explosions.

	b.  Examples of injuries or wounds which clearly do not justify award of the Purple Heart are as follows:  frostbite or trench foot injuries; heat stroke; food poisoning not caused by enemy agents; chemical, biological, or nuclear agents not released by the enemy; battle fatigue; disease not directly caused by enemy agents; accidents, to include explosive, aircraft, vehicular, and other accidental wounding not related to or caused by enemy action; self-inflicted wounds, except when in the heat of battle and not involving gross negligence; post-traumatic stress disorders; and/or jump injuries not caused by enemy action.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The criteria for an award of the Purple Heart requires the submission of substantiating evidence to verify that the injury/wound was the result of hostile action, the injury/wound must have required treatment by medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

2.  Notwithstanding the applicant's sincerity, there is no evidence in the FSM's official records that shows he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action or treated for such wounds.  Regrettably, absent evidence which conclusively shows he sustained wounds or injuries as a result of hostile action, that he was treated by medical personnel for those wounds or injuries, and that this treatment was made a matter of official record, there is an insufficient basis for awarding the Purple Heart to the FSM.






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 the FSM in service to our Nation.  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)                                         AR20110011186



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20110011186



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