IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 19 April 2012
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20110021011
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 he be awarded a Purple Heart for injuries received during World War II (WWII).
2. The applicant states that while serving in Germany during WWII a bazooka round hit his tank and punctured his eardrum. Accordingly, he should have been awarded the Purple Heart.
3. The applicant provides a copy of his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation Honorable Discharge), a one-page statement explaining his application, a copy of his separation physical, and a copy of his Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) rating decision.
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 for review. A fire destroyed approximately 18 million service members' records at the National Personnel Records Center in 1973. It is believed the applicant's records were lost or destroyed in that fire. However, there were sufficient documents remaining in a reconstructed record to conduct a fair and impartial review of this case.
3. The applicant was inducted in Detroit, Michigan on 10 July 1944. He completed his training and departed for the European Theater of Operations (ETO) on 18 January 1945. He participated in the Ardennes, Rhineland and Central Europe Campaigns and departed the ETO in June 1946. He arrived in the United States on 14 June 1946 and was transferred to Camp Atterbury, Indiana.
4. He underwent a separation physical examination and it was noted that he had a perforated tempanum membrane of the left ear that was healed and that no treatment was made for his defective hearing.
5. On 29 June 1946 he was honorably discharged in the rank of private first class (PFC). He had served 1 year, 11 months, and 20 days of active service and his WD AGO Form 53-55 shows that he was awarded the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater Ribbon with three bronze service stars, the Good Conduct Medal, the WWII Victory Medal and the Army of Occupation Medal Germany. In block 34, under Wounds Received in Action, is the entry NONE.
6. His VA Rating Decision shows that he was awarded a 20% disability rating for bilateral hearing loss on 30 December 2009.
7. 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. While the sincerity of the applicants claim that he was wounded/injured in Germany during WWII is not in doubt, the available evidence of record and the evidence submitted with his application are insufficient to support his contention.
2. The available evidence does not show that he was injured as a result of enemy action and that treatment by medical personnel was made a matter of record.
3. Given the loss of his official records and the passage of 65+ years, it is difficult at best to determine what happened in his case. Therefore, in the absence of sufficient evidence to show that his injury was the result of enemy action and that treatment was made a matter of record, there appears to be no basis to grant his request for award of the Purple Heart at this time.
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 the United States during WWII. 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) AR20110021011
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20110021011
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