BOARD DATE:	  14 August 2012

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20120002036 


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

2.  He states his father was wounded in action in the Toul sector of France during World War I.

3.  The applicant provides copies of:

* his birth certificate
* his baptismal certificate
* FSM's Enlistment Record
* FSM's AGO Form Number 525 (Honorable Discharge from the United States Army)
* FSM's Certification of Military Service
* FSM's death certificate
* documents from the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC)

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 are not available to the Board for review.  A fire destroyed approximately 18 million service members' records at the NPRC in 1973.  It is believed that the FSM's records were lost or destroyed in that fire.  However, the applicant did provide the FSM's Honorable Discharge Certificate and Enlistment Record, along with other evidence, which are sufficient for the Board to conduct a fair and impartial review of this case.

3.  The FSM was inducted into the U.S. Army on 5 October 1917.  His Enlistment Record contains the following information:

	a.  Battles, Engagements, Skirmishes, Expeditions:  He served in the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) from 2 May 1918 to 20 July 1919.  He was also in the Toul sector of France on 15 July (year not shown).

	b.  Wounds Received in Service:  He was wounded in the Toul sector in July 1918.

	c.  Remarks:  He was assigned to Company C, 321st Machine Gun Battalion.

4.  The FSM's AGO Form Number 525 shows he was honorably discharged on 26 July 1919.  His available records do not show he received medical treatment for his wounds.

5.  The U.S. Army Center of Military History (CMH) maintains the organizational history of Army units and provides units of the Regular Army, Army National Guard, and Army Reserve with certificates of their lineage and honors and other historical material concerning their organizations.  The CMH shows Company C, 321st Machine Gun Battalion, as a unit assigned under the 163rd Infantry Brigade, 82d Division (currently the 82d Airborne Division), during World War I.

6.  The history of the 82d Division, which included the 321st Machine Gun Battalion, shows the unit's arrival, training, participation, and occupancy in Meurthe-et-Moselle, the Toul sector of France, began on 18 June 1918.  The 82d Division is credited with participation in the following campaigns during World War I:

* St. Mihiel
* Meuse-Argonne

7.  General 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 that 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 General 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.

	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 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.  

	b.  The World War I Victory Medal (originally known as the Victory Medal), established by War Department General Order 48, dated 1919, is awarded for service between 6 April 1917 and 11 November 1918.  

	c.  A bronze service star is worn on the appropriate service ribbon for each credited campaign, to include the World War I Victory Medal.  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 – 12-15 September 1918
* Meuse-Argonne 1918 – 26 September-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 (12-15 September 1918) and Meuse-Argonne (26 September-11 November 1918).

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The FSM's records show he was wounded in the Toul sector of France in July 1918.  While his records are absent of evidence which shows he received medical treatment for his wounds, it is reasonable to presume from the entry in his Enlisted Record that his wounds required medical treatment and he received such treatment.  Therefore, he should be awarded 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.  Given his date of enlistment and the unit's approximate arrival in theater, it reasonable to presume that he participated in the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne campaigns.

3.  As a result, he is eligible for award of the World War I Victory Medal with two bronze service stars.  He is therefore authorized the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne battle clasps 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 the evidence presented is 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 in July 1918;

	b.  correcting the FSM's records to show award of the Purple Heart, World War I Victory Medal with two bronze service stars, and the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne battle clasps for display on the suspension ribbon of the World War I Victory Medal; 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)                                         AR20120002036



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20120002036



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