BOARD DATE: 15 April 2014
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20130014232
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 that her father, a former service member (FSM), be awarded the Purple Heart and that she receive an explanation of her fathers injuries.
2. The applicant states, in effect, that she believes her father qualifies for award of the Purple Heart based on his injuries in Hawaii on 15 May 1944 when Hawaii was under martial law. She goes on to state that she desires to know the extent and cause of her fathers injuries as he was hospitalized for 19 days.
3. The applicant provides copies of the FSMs WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation Honorable Discharge), Separation Physical Examination, Certificate of Death, and Hospital Admission Card.
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 for review. A fire destroyed approximately 18 million service members' records at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in 1973. It is believed the FSM's records were lost or destroyed in that fire. However, the documents contained in a reconstructed record are sufficient to conduct a fair and impartial review of this case.
3. The first attack on Pearl Harbor occurred on 7 December 1941, and a second attack occurred on 4 March 1942. VJ (Victory over Japan) Day was 14 August 1945.
4. The FSM was inducted on 25 June 1942. He completed his training as an electrician and departed for the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations (APTO) on 31 December 1943. He participated in the New Guinea, Southern Philippines, and Luzon campaigns.
5. The Information created from Hospital Admission Cards created by the Office of the Surgeon General, Department of the Army for the period 1942 1945 shows the FSM was admitted to the hospital on 15 May 1944 for a non-battle injury to the head. It also indicates that the causative agent was an enemy air raid, other and unspecified. He was hospitalized for 19 days.
6. He departed the APTO on 13 October 1945 and arrived in the United States on 2 November 1945. He was transferred to Camp Fannin, Texas where he was honorably discharged on 13 November 1945. His WD AGO Form 53-55 issued at the time of discharge shows that he was awarded the American Theater Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with three bronze service stars, Philippine Liberation Ribbon with one bronze service star, World War II Victory Medal. Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) shows the entry None.
7. A review of the available records failed to show evidence indicating that the applicant was wounded or injured as a result of enemy action.
8. 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.
9. Army Regulation 15-185 (Army Board for Correction of Military Records) serves as the authority under which this Board operates. It provides, in pertinent part, that the Board is not an investigative agency and that the burden of proof lies with the individual applicant.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. While the applicant has provided sufficient evidence to show the FSM was in fact injured on 15 May 1944, she has failed to show through the evidence of record and the evidence submitted with her application that his injury was the result of enemy action.
2. Unfortunately, the FSMs records were destroyed in the 1973 fire at the NPRC and it is difficult at best to determine the nature and cause of the FSMs injuries 60+ years after the fact. The Hospital Admissions card pertaining to him contains contradictory information.
3. Therefore, in the absence of evidence to show that his injuries were caused by enemy action, there appears to be no basis to grant the applicants request for award of the Purple Heart to the FSM.
BOARD VOTE:
________ ________ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
_X_______ _X_______ __X__ DENY APPLICATION
BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:
1. 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.
2. The Board wants the applicant and all others to know that the sacrifices made by her father in service to the United States during World War II are deeply appreciated. The applicant and all Americans should be justifiably proud of his service in arms.
_______ _ 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) AR20130014232
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