IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 4 October 2012
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20120006677
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, that his record be corrected to show he was wounded in action and that he be awarded the Purple Heart (PH).
2. The applicant states he was wounded by a mortar shell explosion and was taken to the hospital for post traumatic stress. However, his separation document indicates he was not wounded in action.
3. The applicant provides a WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation-Honorable Discharge) in support of his request.
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 applicants military record is not available to the Board for review. A fire destroyed approximately 18 million service members' records at the National Personnel Record Center (NPRC) in 1973. It is believed that the applicants records were lost or destroyed in that fire. This case is being considered using reconstructed records maintained at the NPRC which includes a WD AGO Form 53-55, Office of The Surgeon General (OTSG) Hospital Admission Card Record Information (1943-1945), and WD Form 372A (Final Payment Work Sheet).
3. The applicants WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he was inducted into the Army on 23 September 1943 and entered active duty on 20 October 1943. It further shows he served in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) from 8 May 1944 to 8 January 1946, and he was credited with participating in the Rome-Arno, Northern Apennines, and Po Valley campaigns of World War II (WWII). Item 33 ((Decorations and Citations) does not include the PH in the list of awards entered, and item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) contains the entry None. It further shows he was honorably separated in the rank of private first class (PFC) on 1 February 1946, after completing 2 years, 3 months, and 15 days of military service.
4. The OTSG Hospital Admission Card on file shows the applicant was admitted to a military treatment facility in the ETO on 27 October 1944 and was treated for an unidentified disease. The record shows the illness was considered a condition that existed prior to military service and not incurred in the line of duty.
5. There are no documents in the NPRC file confirming the applicant was wounded in action or awarded the PH while serving on active duty.
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 applicants request that his WD AGO Form 53-55 be corrected to document the fact he was wounded in action and to show award of the PH has been carefully considered. However, by regulation, in order to support award of the PH there must be evidence not only that a member was wounded as a result of enemy action, but the wound must have required treatment by military medical personnel, and this treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
2. The applicants WD AGO Form 53-55 contains the entry None in item 34, which indicates he was not wounded in action while on active duty, and the OTSG Hospital Admission Card shows that during his hospitalization in the ETO, he was treated for a condition that existed prior to service and that it was not incurred in the line of duty. As a result, absent any documentary evidence confirming the applicants assertion that he was wounded in action, the regulatory burden of proof necessary to support award of the PH has not been met in this case.
3. The applicant and all others concerned should know that this action related to award of the PH in no way diminishes the sacrifices made by the applicant in service to our Nation. The applicant and all Americans should be justifiably proud of his service in arms.
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.
_______ _ _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) AR20120006677
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20120006677
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