BOARD DATE: 20 December 2011
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20110012972
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 correction of his records to show award of the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states he sustained a concussion during combat and was not recognized to receive a Purple Heart.
3. The applicant provides his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation - Honorable Discharge); WD AGO Form 100 (Separation Qualification Record); a photocopy of a Veterans of Foreign Wars news article related to a change in Purple Heart rules; and numerous letters corresponding with his elected representative, National Archives and Records Administration, National Personnel Records Center, and other parties related to earlier attempts to receive the Purple Heart.
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 applicant'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 provided by the applicant for the Board to conduct a fair and impartial review of this case.
3. The available evidence shows he was inducted into the Army on 10 March 1943 and entered active service on 17 March 1943. He was awarded military occupational specialty number 533 (Demolition Specialist).
4. His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he arrived in the European-African-Middle Eastern (EAME) Theater of Operations on 31 January 1944 and was credited with participation in the Normandy and Germany campaigns. This form shows he returned to the United States on 27 December 1944.
5. His available records do not contain orders or a recommendation for award of the Purple Heart.
6. His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he was discharged on 23 March 1945 with a Certificate of Disability after completing 2 years and 7 days of active service.
7. Item 33 (Decorations and Citations) of his WD AGO Form 53-55 shows the EAME Theater Ribbon (now known as EAME Campaign Medal) with two bronze service stars and the Good Conduct Medal.
8. Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) of the applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 contains the entry "None."
9. A health record research project, commonly referred to as the "Surgeon General's Office Files," involved transposing the hospital admission card data from the periods of World War II and the Korean War onto magnetic tape. These files show the applicant was treated for Psychoneurosis on 15 October 1944. No other medical records are available for review.
10. Army Regulation 600-45 (Decorations), then in effect, which governed the award of Army decorations until 23 August 1951, stated that for the purpose of considering an award of the Purple Heart, a "wound" is defined as an injury to any part of the body from an outside force, element, or agent sustained while in action in the face of the armed enemy or as a result of a hostile act of such enemy.
11. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained 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:
There are no records available, to include medical records, that show he was wounded or treated for wounds as a result of hostile action. The regulatory burden of proof necessary to support award of the Purple Heart has not been satisfied in this case. Regrettably, there is insufficient basis for granting the applicant's requested relief.
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) AR20110012972
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20110012972
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