IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 24 January 2012
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20110014800
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 he was wounded by a bullet fired from an M-1, which went through a tree and into his back resulting in hospitalization for about 4 weeks.
3. He provides a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) statement to the Department of the Army (DA) Combat Related Special Compensation (CRSC) Division, his letter to the CRSC office, DD Form 2860 (Test) (Application for CRSC), Honorable Discharge Certificate, WD AGO 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation Honorable Discharge), Standard Form 180 (Request Pertaining to Military Records), DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge), and Charlotte Medical Clinic Form # CLT-704.
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. His military records show he was inducted into the Army on 8 June 1944 and entered active duty that date. He was awarded the military occupational specialty of rifleman. He was separated on 25 July 1945 for the purpose of accepting an appointment as a second lieutenant on active duty.
3. The WD AGO Form 53-55 he was issued for his enlisted service prior to his appointment as a commissioned officer shows no battles and campaigns; no decorations and citations; no wounds received in action; and no service outside the continental United States.
4. The DD Form 214 he was issued at the time of his retirement for length of service in the rank of lieutenant colonel does not show the Purple Heart.
5. He provided a Standard Form 180 with the annotation that he requested a copy of his medical records to prove he was transferred from duty to a medical facility to prove to the DA and the VA that he was injured in a live fire exercise in preparing for combat.
6. He provided a DD Form 2860 (Test), wherein it is stated he was wounded by a projectile fired from an M-1 Rifle in the left center of his back during a live fire training accident.
7. In a self-authored statement to the CRSC office, dated 21 June 2006, he stated in August he received a gunshot wound in the center left of his back during a live fire training exercise. He was treated at the battalion aid station and then transferred to the post hospital. He further stated he enclosed a statement from a doctor describing the scar on his back from the projectile which hit him. He stated he certified this was the wound incurred in training.
8. His available records do not contain any evidence that indicates he was ever recommended for or awarded the Purple Heart by proper authority.
9. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) stated the Purple Heart was awarded for a wound sustained as a result of hostile action. Substantiating evidence must have been 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. He admits in his statement he was accidently wounded by a gunshot from an M-1 Rifle during a live fire training exercise. As such, there is no evidence that indicates his injury was the result of enemy action and he makes no contention that it was.
2. In the absence of evidence that he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action and treated for such wounds, there is insufficient evidence upon which to base award of the Purple Heart. 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 his 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) AR20110014800
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20110014800
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