BOARD DATE:	  13 December 2012

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20120008792 


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, correction of his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation – Honorable Discharge) to include a second Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states he was wounded when the British troop ship Empire Javelin was sunk in the English Channel.  He was below decks, his ears and knees were injured.  He has suffered from defective hearing since then and had to have both knees totally replaced.  He was rescued by the Free French Navy ship L'Escarmouche.  They dressed his wounds and transferred him to a U.S. ship, but they did not send any medical records with him.  He first applied in Berlin in December 1945.

3.  The applicant provides copies of his WD AGO Form 53-55, Honorable Discharge Certificate, and a 2008 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) rating decision with supporting documents.

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 complete military records are not available for review.  A fire destroyed approximately 18 million service members' records at the National Personnel Records Center in 1973.  His records were destroyed, lost, or seriously damaged in that fire.  However, sufficient information is available to conduct a fair and impartial review of this case.

3.  The applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he was inducted into the Army of United States and entered active duty on 6 February 1943.  He departed the United States for the European theater on 15 November 1944 and arrived on 23 November 1944.  He served in military occupational specialty 502 (Administrative Noncommissioned Officer) with Company B, Headquarters, 1st Airborne Army.  He arrived back in the United States on 16 February 1946.

4.  On 21 February 1946, he was honorably discharged for the convenience of the government.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows in:

* item 3 (Grade) – staff sergeant
* item 31 (Military Qualifications and Date) – Carbine M (Marksman) 4 February 1944
* item 32 (Battles and Campaigns) – Rhineland, Belgium (Ardennes-Alsace), and Central Europe
* item 33 (Decorations and Citations) – the World War II Victory Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with one bronze service star, Army Good Conduct Medal, Infantryman Badge, and the Purple Heart

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



6.  The VA documents submitted by the applicant show he has been granted a 50-percent disability rating for his hearing and suggest he has also been rated for his injured knees.  However, there are no treatment records and no evidence to tie the rating action(s) to any specific event.

7.  Internet research shows:

	a.  The Empire Javelin, an American-built British ship via the Lend-Lease Act, led a storied if brief career.  She carried the initial wave to Omaha Beach's Green Section at Normandy on D Day.  On 28 December 1944, while taking some 882 American and 652 British replacement troops to Belgium at the height of the Battle of the Bulge, she was torpedoed by a submarine or possibly struck a mine.  Six crewmen were killed.

	b.  The Free French Navy's valiant little frigate, L'Escarmouche, rendered truly remarkable service to both the United States and Great Britain that day.  When the Empire Javelin started going down, the French captain brought his ship alongside the wallowing Javelin and the French sailors literally caught the troopers as they jumped down from one ship to the other.  With the Javelin rapidly settling, it was discovered that some of her engineering crew were still alive, but trapped below decks.  L'Escarmouche's engineer officer and an assistant boarded the wreck, went below with cutting torches and rescued those men by cutting through a bulkhead.  In the end, only 13 Soldiers were lost and another 20 were obviously wounded.  L'Escarmouche was so crowded that the Soldiers had to be told where to stand and ordered to remain still so the little frigate could remain stable.  No list of survivors and/or casualties can be located.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  While the applicant's account of being injured during the sinking of the Empire Javelin is completely reasonable, there are no available medical records to connect his ear or knee condition to that incident or substantiating evidence to place him there.

2.  Furthermore, there is no evidence to show the basis for the Purple Heart which is already shown on his WD AGO Form 53-55.  It may, in fact, be from the Empire Javelin incident.  In any case, there is insufficient substantiation to warrant award of a second Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant has submitted neither probative evidence nor a convincing argument in support of the request.


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)                                         AR20120008792



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20120008792



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