IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  5 May 2012

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20110020076 


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 that the military records of her father, a former service member (FSM), be corrected to show he was awarded the Purple Heart as a result of being wounded during World War I.

2.  She states her father was wounded during the Meuse-Argonne offensive.  As a result, he was paid monthly disability benefits from the Veterans Administration (VA). 

3.  She provides copies of:

* A Form Number 17, A.G.O. (Certificate of Disability for Discharge)
* A Certification of Military Service
* His WD Form Number 371 (Final Payment Roll)
* Her birth certificate
* The FSM's death certificate
* Newspaper article

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 FSM’s military records were lost or destroyed in a fire at the National Personnel Records Center in 1973.  The records available to the Board 
were provided by the applicant.  These records are sufficient for the Board to conduct a fair and impartial review of this case.  

3.  The FSM enlisted in the Regular Army on 19 September 1917 and was assigned to the Machinegun Company, 328th Infantry.  The highest grade held by the FSM was private.

4.  His Certificate of Disability for Discharge shows he was wounded in action on 15 October 1918, in the Argonne Forest, France.  This document also shows he was hospitalized and treated for his wounds.  He was honorably discharged on 
5 December 1919, with a disability rating of 20%.

5.  The U.S. Army Center of Military History (CMH) maintains the organizational history of Army units and provides units of the Regular Army, the Army National Guard, and the Army Reserve with certificates of their lineage and honors and other historical material concerning their organizations.  CMH shows the 328th Infantry as a unit assigned under the 164th Infantry Brigade, 82nd Division (currently the 82nd Airborne Division) during World War I.  

6.  The history of the 82nd Division, which included the 328th Infantry, shows the unit's arrival, training, participation, and occupancy in France began around 
15 June 1918.  They are credited with participation in the following campaigns during World War I:

* St. Mihiel
* Meuse-Argonne

7.  George Washington established the “Badge of Military Merit,” as the Purple Heart was originally known, in a New York town on 7 August 1782.  It was awarded to three Soldiers during the Revolutionary War before falling into disuse.  Its use wasn’t again proposed until World War I, when then-Army Chief of Staff General Charles Pelot Summerall requested Congress revive the medal. That movement died in 1928, but 3 years later, his successor, General Douglas MacArthur, quietly requested the medal’s design be retooled.  On the observance of George Washington’s 200th birthday (22 February 1932), under general 
orders of the War Department, the medal was revived with a new design and a new name.  However, it still was thought of as an Army decoration; it wasn’t until 1942 that President Franklin D. Roosevelt extended the medal to those serving in other services who were wounded in the 7 December 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor.  In 1952, President Harry S. Truman carried that action a step further, retroactively granting the medal to any qualified service member back to 5 April 1917. 

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) prescribes Army policy, criteria, and administrative instructions concerning individual and unit military awards.  It states:

   a.  The Purple Heart is awarded for wounds sustained as a result of hostile action after 5 April 1917.  Substantiating evidence must be provided to verify that the wound was the result of hostile action, the wound must have required treatment by a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.  This regulation provides examples of enemy-related injuries which clearly justify award of the Purple Heart, one of which is injury caused by enemy released chemical, biological, or nuclear agent.

   b.  The World War I Victory Medal (originally known as the Victory Medal), established by War Department General Order 48, 1919, is awarded for service between 6 April 1917 and 11 November 1918.  Final endorsement of the Victory Medal design was given by Secretary of War Newton D. Baker on 14 November 1919.

	c.  A bronze service star is worn on the appropriate service ribbon, to include the World War I Victory Medal, for each credited campaign.  The World War I campaigns are listed in appendix B.  The lineage and honors of his unit shows participation in two campaigns:

* St. Mihiel 1918 – 12 through 15 Sep 1918
* Meuse-Argonne 1918 – 26 September through 11 November 1918

	d.  A battle clasp is authorized to be worn on the suspension ribbon of the World War I Victory Medal, for each of the major operations in which individuals were actually present under competent orders.  Among the battle clasps authorized are St. Mihiel: 12-16 September 1918 and Meuse-Argonne:              26 September - 11 Nov 1918.  



DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The FSM's records show he was wounded as a result of hostile action on 
15 October 1918, and he received medical treatment for his wounds.  As a result, he is authorized award of the Purple Heart. 

2.  According to the CMH, the FSM's unit participated in the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne campaigns during World War I.  He received his wounds while participating in Meuse-Argonne campaign.  Given his date of enlistment and the unit's approximate arrival in Theater, it reasonable to presume that he also participated in the St. Mihiel campaign.  

3.  As a result, he is entitled to award of the World War I Victory Medal with two bronze service stars for display on the ribbon.  He is also authorized the St. Mihiel clasp and Meuse-Argonne clasp for display on the suspension ribbon of the World War I Victory Medal.  

BOARD VOTE:

____X____  ____X____  ___X_____  GRANT FULL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to warrant a recommendation for relief.  As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by:

   a.  posthumously awarding the FSM the Purple Heart for wounds received in action on 15 October 1918;

   b.  correcting his records to show award of the World War I Victory Medal with the St. Mihiel clasp and Meuse-Argonne clasp for display on the suspension ribbon of the World War I Victory Medal and two bronze service stars for display on the World War I Victory Medal service ribbon; and
   


   c.  issuing the applicant an appropriate document which shows these corrections.




      _______ _   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)                                         AR20110020076





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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20110020076



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