IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	    27 August 2013

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20130010986 


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, the daughter of a deceased former service member (FSM), requests award of the Purple Heart, Prisoner of War (POW) Medal, and World War I (WWI) Victory Medal. 

2.  The applicant states the FSM was wounded in the Argonne Battle on              5 October 1918, and subsequently became a POW in Germany.  Due to poor or the lack of proper medical treatment while a POW, he never fully recovered from his injuries and died as a result of those injuries in an Army Hospital. 

3.  The applicant provides:

* a letter from a Member of Congress
* Standard Certificate of Birth
* Standard Certificate of Death
* Honorable Discharge from the Army of the United States
* Form 645, A.G.O. (American Prisoner of War)
* Form No. 644, A.G.O. (Pay Card)
* Form 52 (Medical Department , U.S.A.)
* Record of Transfers and Changes
* several additional pages of the FSM's military records
* 3 photographs
* A 4-page extract from "Prisoners of War" by Herbert C. Fooks



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 National Personnel Records Center in 1973.  It is believed that the FSM'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.  Records show the FSM enlisted in the Army of the United States on             18 June 1918 and served in the infantry during WWI.

4.  The FSM's military record further shows he participated in the Argonne Forest Battle and received a gunshot wound in action on 5 October 1918.  The entries of record are initialed and verified by his commander's signature.

5.  The applicant provides and the FSM's record contains a copy of a Form 645, A.G.O., which shows the FSM, while a member of Company C, 127th Infantry Regiment, was captured in Argonne on 5 October 1918.  The form further shows the Prussian War Ministry reported the FSM was a prisoner at Hammelburg, Germany, on 8 November 1918 and later at Landau on 21 November 1918.  On 26 January 1919, the FSM was released from the German prison camp at Landau and returned to France.

6.  The FSM's record contains a U.S. Army Medical Department admission and disposition form which shows he was admitted by his command on 4 March 1919, for an old gunshot wound to the left scapula which was incurred in the Argonne Forest on 5 October 1918.  The wound was determined to be partially healed, in the line of duty, and the FSM was placed on quarters until released on 12 March 1919.

7.  The applicant provides a copy of the FSM's Honorable Discharge from the Army of the United States which shows the FSM was honorably discharged at Camp Travis, Texas, on 12 March 1919.  

8.  The Purple Heart was established by General George Washington at Newburgh, NY on 7 August 1782 during the Revolutionary War.  It was reestablished by the President of the United States per War Department General Orders Number 3 in 1932.  It was awarded in the name of the President of the   U.S. to any member of the Armed Forces or any civilian national of the U.S. who, while serving under competent authority in any capacity with one of the U.S. Armed Services after 5 April 1917, died or sustained wounds as a result of hostile action.   

9.  Section 521a of the National Defense Authorization Act of 1996 authorized award of the Purple Heart to any former prisoner of war who was wounded before 25 April 1962 while held as a POW or while being taken captive, in the same manner as a former prisoner of war who was wounded on or after that date.  Section 521b specifically stated that award of the Purple Heart for prisoners of war under Section 521a shall be made in accordance with the standards in effect on the date of the enactment of this Act to persons wounded on or after 25 April 1962.

10.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states the POW Medal was authorized on 8 November 1985 and is awarded to individuals who in past armed conflicts were taken prisoner or held captive after 5 April 1917.  The POW Medal is to be issued only to those U.S. military personnel and other personnel granted creditable U.S. military service who were taken prisoner and held captive:

* while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States
* while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force
* while serving with friendly forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the U.S. is not a belligerent party
* by foreign armed forces that are hostile to the U.S., under circumstances which the Secretary concerned finds to have been comparable to those under which persons have generally been held captive by enemy armed forces during periods of armed conflict

11.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 further states the WWI Victory Medal was established by War Department General Order 48, dated 1919.  The medal is awarded for service between 6 April 1917 and 11 November 1918.


DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence of record shows the FSM was wounded on 5 October 1918, captured, and held as a POW in Germany, until he was released from captivity on 26 January 1919.  Therefore, he is entitled to correction of his records to show award of the Purple Heart and POW Medal.

2.  Evidence also shows the FSM served in the Army of the United States for the period 18 June 1918 through 12 March 1919.  Therefore, he is entitled to correction of his records to show award of the WWI 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 awarding the FSM the Purple Heart for wounds received on 5 October 1918 and issuing an appropriate document showing he was awarded the Purple Heart, POW Medal, and WWII Victory Medal.



      _______ _   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)                                         AR20130010986





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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20130010986



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