IN THE CASE OF:	

		BOARD DATE:	  30 January 2014

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20130014839 


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.

2.  The applicant states, in effect:

	a.  He was not awarded the Purple Heart when he was wounded in Leghorn (Livorno), Italy; however, he received the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with two bronze service stars.

	b.  After being found by a medic near Leghorn (Livorno), Italy, he was evacuated to the field hospital in Piedmont, Italy, where bomb and artillery shell fragments were removed from his body.

	c.  White officers and enlisted men brought their hate and lack of respect for black Soldiers to the war front and denied the black Soldiers any awards they could.

	d.  He feared Army doctors because of what he experienced and heard from other black enlisted men and the statements of the Tuskegee men who stated Army doctors used black men to install disease as if they were animals.

3.  The applicant provides:

* self-authored statement
* WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation – Honorable Discharge)
* WD AGO Form 100 (Army Separation Qualification Record)
* Honorable Discharge Certificate
* letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), dated 24 February 2011
* VA Rating Decision, dated 24 February 2011
* National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Form 13055 (Request for Information Needed to Reconstruct Medical Data), dated 17 May 2013
* NARA Form 13075 (Questionnaire about Military Service), dated 17 May 2013
* letter from the National Personnel Records Center, dated 3 July 2013
* VA Form 21-4142 (Authorization and Consent to Release Information to the VA), dated 15 July 2013 (2 copies)

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 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 applicant's records were lost or destroyed in that fire.  However, there were sufficient documents on file for the Board to conduct a fair and impartial review of this case.  This case is being considered using reconstructed records, which primarily consist of evidence provided by the applicant and the applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55.

3.  The applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he enlisted in the Enlisted Reserve Corps on 10 December 1942 and he entered active duty on 22 February 1943.  This form shows the following pertinent information:

* item 6 (Organization) – Headquarters, 121st Quartermaster Battalion (Mobile)
* item 7 (Date of Separation) – 11 December 1945
* item 30 (Military Occupational Specialty) – Clerk Typist  405
* item 32 (Battles and Campaigns) – Rome-Arno and Po Valley
* item 33 (Decorations and Citations) –

* European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with two bronze service stars
* Army Good Conduct Medal
* World War II Victory Medal
* one service stripe
* four overseas service bars

* item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) – "None"

4.  His available service records do not contain orders awarding him the Purple Heart.

5.  A review of the Office of the Surgeon General files fails to show that the applicant was wounded in action or treated for a wound received as a result of enemy action.

6.  The applicant provided the following supporting documentation:

	a.  In a self-authored statement he claims that he, along with innumerable black Soldiers of the era, were systemically subjected to racism and conditions of an "Apartheid Army."  This not only resulted in the inequitable treatment of black Soldiers, but also the use of unfair practices regarding recognition for awards and decorations, to include the Purple Heart.

	b.  Associated documentation and statements from the applicant to and from the VA fail to provide sufficient evidence which would illuminate the circumstances surrounding or would serve to corroborate the applicant's claim to award of the Purple Heart.

7.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained in action against an enemy or 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:

1.  The applicant's available records do not show he suffered from or was treated for a combat wound or injury.  The evidence he submitted is insufficient to substantiate that he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action or treated for such wounds.

2.  Notwithstanding the applicant's contentions and sincerity, in the absence of additional documentation which conclusively shows the applicant sustained wounds or injuries as a result of hostile action, that he was treated by medical personnel for those wounds or injuries, and that this treatment was made a matter of official record there is an insufficient basis for awarding him the Purple Heart.

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 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 concerned to know this action in no way diminishes the sacrifices made by him in service to our Nation 
during World War II.  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)                                         AR20130014839



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20130014839



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