IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 23 February 2012
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20110015504
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:
a. The Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) determined his right wrist injury was the result of combat and he had a traumatic brain injury (TBI) from shell concussion. He was granted service connected disability.
b. His injury was never entered in the morning report.
c. He was wounded on 12 June 1944 while in action against the Germans in Normandy. The shelling incident wiped out his squad, killed his lieutenant, and knocked him unconscious. The medics found him and he was treated for his wrist wound.
d. He was taken as a prisoner of war (POW) on 7 July 1944 and spent
11 months as a POW.
e. In 1947 an x-ray of his wrist revealed shrapnel fragments.
3. The applicant provides:
* WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation)
* DVA Rating Decision, dated 12 January 2011
* Letters, dated 19 July 2011 and 25 July 2011, from a Member of Congress
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 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. It is believed that the applicant's 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.
3. The applicant was inducted into the Army of the United States on 26 August 1943 and he entered active service on 16 September 1943. He served as a rifleman in the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater of Operations from
3 April 1944 to 1 June 1945. On 7 December 1945, he was honorably discharged.
4. Item 33 (Decorations and Citations) of his WD AGO Form 53-55 does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award. Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) of his WD AGO Form 53-55 shows the entry "None."
5. There is no evidence in the available record that shows the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart or that he was wounded as a result of hostile action during World War II.
6. In support of his claim, he provides a DVA Rating Decision, dated 12 January 2011, which shows service connection was granted for:
* residuals of right wrist wound with retained foreign bodies (10%)
* TBI (previously rated as grand mal epilepsy) (10%)
7. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained 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.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. He contends the DVA determined his right wrist injury was the result of combat during World War II.
2. Army Regulation 600-8-22 establishes basic requirements for the Purple Heart and all other awards. The Purple Heart requires:
* a wound was the result of hostile action
* treatment of the wound by medical personnel
* documentation of the wound in official records
* official orders awarding the decoration
3. There is no evidence in the available record that shows the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart or that he was wounded as a result of hostile action during World War II. Regrettably, there is insufficient evidentiary basis for awarding him the Purple Heart in this case.
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 applicant 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) AR20110015504
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ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20110015504
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ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
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