IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  14 July 2011

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20110012505 


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 wounded by shrapnel in December 1943.  He was treated on site by a medic.  His family has been trying relentlessly for the past few years to have the Purple Heart awarded to him.

3.  The applicant provides:

* multiple newspaper articles
* multiple Congressional letters
* self-authored statement
* letter from his daughter
* Honorable Discharge Certificate
* Certification of Military Service
* Morning Reports
* denial letter from the U.S. Army Human Resources Command (HRC)

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 National Personnel Records Center in 1973.  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 Enlisted Record shows he was inducted into the Army of the United States on 31 March 1943 in Boston, MA.  This form also shows at the time of his discharge he held a rifleman military occupational specialty and was assigned to Headquarters Company, Service Command, Unit 3109.

4.  His Enlisted Record shows he served in the European-African-Middle Eastern theater of operations from 1 October 1943 to 21 July 1944.  He completed 1 year, 8 months, and 4 days of creditable active service of which 11 months and 1 day was foreign service.

5.  He was honorably discharged on 5 December 1944 in the rank of private.  His Enlisted Record also shows the following entries:

* Military Qualifications – "Unknown"
* Battles, Engagements, Skirmishes, Expeditions – "Naples-Foggia Campaign"
* Decorations, Service Medals, Citations – "None"
* Wounds Received in Service – "None"
* Character – "Excellent"
* Remarks – "No time lost under Articles of War 107" and "European African-Middle Eastern Theater Campaign Ribbon with one service star"

6.  The information from the Hospital Admission Cards created by the U.S. Army Office of the Surgeon General for the year 1944 shows the applicant was admitted or hospitalized for a non-battle disease (mixed psychoneurosis) in December 1943, nasopharyngitis in May 1944, and an unspecified disease in 1944.


7.  The applicant provides:

	a.  Multiple newspaper articles essentially state the applicant is still awaiting his Purple Heart as well as multiple Congressional letters inquiring about his Purple Heart in relation to a wound he suffered at the Battle of Monte Cassino when he was blown out of a foxhole and suffered a concussion as well as shrapnel wounds.  He was hospitalized for 20 days, but the records documenting his injury were destroyed in a fire.

	b.  A self-authored statement, dated 19 September 2010, states he was engaged in armed conflict with the enemy on multiple times and he was attended by a combat medic for the removal of shrapnel embedded in his back and wrist.  He stayed at a hospital in Italy where doctors determined his wounds were healing, but he was suffering from shell shock.

	c.  A letter from the applicant's daughter, dated 8 June 2011, states her father was wounded in December 1943.  Shrapnel was embedded in his wrist and back.  He allowed himself to be treated by a combat medic because he did not want to leave his comrades.

	d.  A letter from HRC, dated February 2011, denies him award of the Purple Heart due to lack of substantiating evidence to show he was wounded in action.

	e.  A company Morning Report for Company B, 179th Infantry, dated 12 December 1943, shows he was present for duty with this unit on that date.  A second Morning Report, dated 23 December 1943, shows he was returned from a "sick" absence to duty on that date.

8.  The Purple Heart was established by General George Washington at Newburgh, NY, 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.

9.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides 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 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 criteria for an award of the Purple Heart requires the submission of substantiating evidence to verify the wound or injury was the result of hostile action, the wound or injury must have required treatment by medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

2.  The applicant's records do not show he suffered a combat wound or injury or that he was treated for a combat wound or injury.  Additionally, there is no reference in his service records to a combat injury or wound or treatment for such injury or wound.  His record is void of orders that show he was awarded the Purple Heart and the documents he submitted do not show he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action or treated for such wounds.

3.  Notwithstanding the applicant's sincerity, in the absence of additional documentation that conclusively shows the applicant 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 regrettably, an insufficient basis for awarding him the Purple Heart.

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 the overall merits of this case are insufficient as a basis for correction of the records of the individual concerned.



      ___________XXX______________
                 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)                                         AR20110012505



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20110012505



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