IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 5 September 2013
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20130002390
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 for wounds he received while serving in World War II (WWII).
2. The applicant states he was wounded in action; however, he never received the Purple Heart.
3. The applicant provides his War Department (WD) Adjutant General's Office (AGO) Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation Honorable Discharge).
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 his 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. The applicant was inducted into the Army of the United States on 21 January 1943 and he entered active duty on 28 January 1943. He served in WWII, in the Pacific Theater of Operations, from on or about 14 June 1943 to on or about 19 December 1945.
4. His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows at the time of separation he held military occupational specialty 824 (Mess Sergeant) and he was assigned to the 1st Field Hospital, Army Post Office (APO) 928, at Milne Bay, New Guinea.
5. His available record contains a U.S. Army Surgeon General's Office (SGO) Hospitalization File Listing from 1944, which shows he was hospitalized for an unknown period in 1944. The roster shows he was diagnosed with 2 conditions, identified by Veterans Affairs Schedule for Rating Disabilities (VASRD) codes 9116 (Impetigo Contagiosa) and 9199 (Skin, Disease of, Other). The listing does not provide any indication of the circumstances under which his hospitalization occurred.
6. On 6 February 1946, he was honorably discharged from the Army of the United States. His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he completed 4 months and 5 days of service in the continental United States, and 2 years, 8 months, and 11 days of foreign service. His WD AGO Form 53-55 further shows:
a. Item 32 (Battles and Campaigns) he participated in the New Guinea and Southern Philippines (Liberation) campaigns during WWII;
b. Item 33 (Decorations and Citations) does not indicate he was awarded the Purple Heart; and
c. Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) contains the entry "None."
7. His available record contains no other documentation that shows he was wounded during his service in WWII.
8. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained as a result of hostile action. Substantiating evidence must be provided to verify 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:
The applicant contends he should be awarded the Purple Heart for wounds he received during his service in WWII. Regrettably, the evidence of record fails to show he was wounded in combat, or that his wounds required medical treatment, or that such treatment was made a matter of official record. Absent evidence to the contrary, there is an insufficient basis to grant relief in this case.
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) AR20110020936
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ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20130002390
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ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
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