IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  17 May 2012

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20110023400 


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 and any awards and decorations to which he may be entitled.

2.  The applicant states:

* He should be awarded the Purple Heart for injuries that led to his discharge
* He was discharged with incomplete records due to his hospitalization
* He just realized his medals are not listed on his discharge

3.  The applicant provides his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation).

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 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.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows:

* he was inducted into the Army of the United States on 16 November 1943
* he served in the European Theater of Operations from approximately July 1944 to April 1945
* his organization was the 328th Infantry
* he participated in the Northern France and Germany (currently known as the Rhineland) campaigns
* he was honorably discharged with a certificate of disability on 17 July 1945

4.  Item 33 (Decorations and Citations) of his WD AGO Form 53-55 shows:

* European-African-Middle Eastern (EAME) Campaign Medal
* Good Conduct Medal

5.  Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) of his WD AGO Form 53-55 shows the entry "None."  His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he also received the Combat Infantryman Badge. 

6.  There are no orders for the Purple Heart in the available records.

7.  The Office of the Surgeon General Hospital List shows he was hospitalized on 21 February 1945 in the European Theater of Operations for a cold injury (trench foot).  The type of case is listed as "Battle injury."

8.  There is no evidence of record which shows he was diagnosed with severe frostbite.




9.  Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-1 (Unit Citation and Campaign Participation Credit Register), dated 6 July 1961, shows awards and citations authorized for units which served during World War II.  This pamphlet shows the 328th Infantry was cited for a Citation in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for actions during the period 20 December 1944 to 26 January 1945 by Department of the Army General Orders Number 43, dated 1950.

10.  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.

11.  While award of the Purple Heart for frostbite injuries is currently prohibited, such injuries were previously a basis for the award. 

12.  An Army historical document discussing the award of the Purple Heart for frostbite injuries makes clear numerous specific points including the following:  The term “element” (included from the beginning) meant weather.  The governing regulation and policy were not always the same.  Both policy and enforcement varied from time to time and place to place and were not consistently applied even in adjacent major European commands.  The regulation normally authorized the Purple Heart for frostbite while in combat and sometimes excluded the award for trenchfoot while in combat.  The Medical Department resisted administering a policy they could not control because initial diagnosis was very difficult yet the symptomatic development of individual conditions invited re-diagnosis; because the ultimate degree of permanent disability had virtually nothing to do with the initial cause; because training and enforcement of prevention rested with line commanders; and finally, because initial diagnosis, while extremely difficult, was almost always made by medical personnel who were intimately familiar with both the weather and the tactical situation, but rear echelon doctors tended to change the diagnoses for whatever reasons met their needs. 

13.  Army Regulation 600-45 (Decorations), which governed the award of Army decorations until 23 August 1951, stated that for the purpose of considering an award of the Purple Heart, a “wound” was defined as an injury to any part of the body from an outside force, element, or agent sustained while in action in the face of the armed enemy or as a result of a hostile act of such enemy.  An “element” pertained to weather and the award of this decoration to personnel who were severely frostbitten while actually engaged in combat was authorized.

14.  The Office of the Surgeon General files (commonly referred to as the SGO files), a health record research project, involved transposing hospital admission card data from the periods of World War II and the Korean Conflict onto magnetic tape.  In 1988, the National Research Council made these tape files available to the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC).  It was widely believed that these tapes would become a valuable substitute for the records lost in the NPRC fire of 1973.  The best available estimation of the completeness of this project is that it captured at least 95 percent of all combat casualty hospital admissions.

15.  Army Regulation 600-45 stated the Bronze Star Medal is authorized for each individual who was cited in orders or awarded a certificate for exemplary conduct in ground combat between 7 December 1941 and 2 September 1945 or whose achievement or service, during that period, was confirmed by documents executed prior to 1 July 1947.  An award of the Combat Infantryman Badge or the Combat Medical Badge is considered to be a citation in orders.  This means, in effect, that the Bronze Star Medal is to be awarded to individuals who were authorized either badge for service during World War II.

16.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 states the World War II Victory Medal is awarded for service between 7 December 1941 and 31 December 1946, both dates inclusive.

17.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 authorizes a bronze service star based on qualifying service for each campaign listed in appendix B or listed in item 
32 (Battles and Campaigns) of the WD AGO Form 53-55.  

18.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides for award of the Belgian Fourragere.  The Belgian Fourragere may be awarded when a unit has been cited twice in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army.  The award of the Belgian Fourragere is not automatic but must be by special decree of the Belgian Government.  Persons who were present in only one action are not authorized to wear the Fourragere.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Although the Office of the Surgeon General Hospital List shows the applicant was hospitalized for trench foot during World War II, there is no medical evidence of record which shows he was diagnosed with "severe" frostbite as required by the governing regulation at the time in question.  Regrettably, there is insufficient evidence on which to award the Purple Heart in this case.

2.  Based on his Combat Infantryman Badge, the FSM is entitled to award of the Bronze Star Medal.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 should be corrected to show this medal.  

3.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he participated in two campaigns during his assignment in the European Theater of Operations which entitles him to the EAME Campaign Medal with two bronze service stars.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 should be corrected to show this medal. 

4.  He served a period of qualifying service for award of the World War II Victory Medal.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 should be corrected to show this medal.

5.  His unit was cited once for award of the Citation in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army.  Although he would not have been authorized to wear a ribbon, fourragere, medal, or other device based on a one-time citation, an entry should be made on his WD AGO Form 53-55 to show this citation.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF 

____X____  ___X_____  ___X_____  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

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

   a.  awarding him the Bronze Star Medal based on award of the Combat Infantryman Badge; 

	b.  adding the Bronze Star Medal, World War II Victory Medal, and two bronze service stars for wear on his already-awarded EAME Campaign Medal to item 33 of his WD AGO Form 53-55; and 

	c.  adding the entry "Citation in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army – Unit Citation – No Emblem Authorized " in item 55 (Remarks) of his WD AGO Form 53-55. 
2.  The Board further determined that the evidence presented is insufficient to warrant a portion of the requested relief.  As a result, the Board recommends denial of so much of the application that pertains to award of the Purple Heart.  




      _______ _   _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)                                         AR20110023400





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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20110023400



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