BOARD DATE:	  5 April 2012

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20110019221 


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, in effect, award of the Purple Heart and correction of his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation – Honorable Discharge) to show this award.

2.  The applicant states he believes he is entitled to the Purple Heart.  He states he was wounded during the Battle of the Bulge and hospitalized in Belgium.  He was designated as a Purple Heart recipient; however, he never actually received the award.

3.  The applicant provides:

* General Orders Number 19, issued by Headquarters, 1st Base Post Office, dated 28 August 1945
* an inscription in his "Bible"
* a webpage printout
* his WD AGO Form 53-55
* his Honorable Discharge Certificate
* a letter from the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC), dated 
30 August 2002

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 for review.  A fire destroyed approximately 18 million service members' records at the NPRC in 1973.  His records were destroyed, lost, or seriously damaged in that fire.  However, sufficient documents are available to conduct a fair and impartial review of this case.

3.  The applicant was inducted into the Army of the United States on 25 February 1943 and he entered active service on 4 March 1943.  He completed training and held military occupational specialty 657 (messenger).  He departed the United States on 19 September 1944 and arrived in the European Theater of Operations on 25 September 1944.  He subsequently departed the ETO on 16 October 1945 and arrived back in the United States on 1 November 1945.

4.  On 9 January 1946, he was honorably discharged.  The WD AGO Form 53-55 he was issued at the time shows in:

* item 33 (Decorations and Citations) no entry for the Purple Heart
* item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) the entry "None"

5.  The applicant provides:

	a.  A copy of General Order Number 19 that contains a list of Soldiers, including himself, awarding them the Army Good Conduct Medal.  Affixed to paragraph II (Awards) of this document are two handwritten notes stating, "Rating-Purple Hearts" and "AWD. Purple HRT. xxx."  These notes are written in two distinctively different styles and with two different writing instruments.  Even the "xxx's" written beside various individual's names seem to have been done in at least two different "hands" and with different writing instruments.

	b.  The inside front cover or fly leaf of what appears to be a Soldier's "Bible" that shows the entry "To (the applicant)…Injured in the Battle of the Bulge 1944 – Capt Ross C. F____ Chaplain."
	c.  A webpage printout that has a hand-circled portion labeled, "Adapted from – http://battleofthebluge.org/fact/fact sheet of the 28th Infantry.html"  It lists the applicant's name and assignments and carries an entry in a different typeface that shows the entry "Bronze Star & Purple Heart Recipient."

	d.  A letter to him from the NPRC, dated 30 August 2002, advising him that prior to the 1973 fire, his military medical records were provided to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for claim purposes.  It was suggested he contact the VA to obtain copies of those records.  There is no indication that he has done so.

6.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states 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.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The general orders that the applicant submits awarded him the Army Good Conduct Medal.  Although the applicant states the handwritten entries indicate he and other Soldiers were also awarded the Purple Heart, this document is insufficient to substantiate he was entitled to or awarded the Purple Heart.

2.  The entry in the applicant's "Bible" states he was injured in the Battle of the Bulge.  However, it does not state that he was treated for a wound sustained while in action against an enemy or as the result of enemy action or that he was awarded the Purple Heart.

3.  Even if the website the applicant provided could be located or opened, it would be insufficient in itself as a basis for granting the requested relief.

4.  There is no available evidence to show that the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart or treated for a wound sustained while in action against an enemy or as a result of enemy action.

5.  In view of the foregoing, there is an insufficient evidentiary 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.



      _______________________
               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)                                         AR20110019221



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20110019221



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