IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	    22 July 2014

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20130020240 


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 widow of a deceased former service member (FSM), requests:

* removal of the entry for time lost in item 38 (Remarks) of the FSM's DD Form 214 (Report of Separation from the Armed Forces of the United States) for the period ending 5 September 1953
* award of the Purple Heart for injuries the FSM received while serving in Korea

2.  Regarding removal of the entry for time lost, she states:

	a.  The FSM was aware of the entry.  She encouraged him to request that it be removed and he stated he had tried to explain his version of the incident and he would make no further requests.

	b.  She and the FSM were married in January 1952.  While the FSM was stationed at Camp Cooke, CA, in August 1952, he left the base to come to her in Los Angeles before roll call.  His company was restricted after he left the base, and all passes were revoked.  He came to her because she had informed him she was pregnant, and she was living alone in Los Angeles at the time.  She had miscarried in the spring of 1952, and she was afraid she would miscarry again.  When he was notified to return to Camp Cooke, he did so immediately.  He was restricted to base.  His commanding officer lifted his restriction and allowed him to return home on leave prior to leaving for Korea in September.  

	c.  The FSM felt it was his duty to come to her when she told him she was pregnant.  He took very seriously being a husband and a Soldier.  He wouldn't have left the base early if he knew deployment orders were coming.  He had no intention of deserting the Army.  She knows she was responsible for him coming to her when she told him she was pregnant again.  

	d.  While he was deployed, she miscarried.  She could not tell him she had lost a second child.  Her minister wrote to him, and the FSM wrote words of comfort to her, assuring her that they would have a family once he was home again, which they did.  

	e.  She believes his service in Korea should cancel out any minor loss.  He served with honor in Korea, earning a Bronze Star Medal and several citations and medals, and he was promoted to sergeant first class (SFC).  

3.  Regarding award of the Purple Heart, she states the FSM served in Korea from October 1952 to August 1953, and he participated in many skirmishes, battles, and campaigns.  He was struck by many shell fragments, and at one time he suffered pieces of shrapnel in his face, ears, and neck.  She asked him why he hadn't gone to the aid station, and he informed her he was busy in combat and couldn't go anywhere at the time.  Later on, a medic checked his eye, forehead, ears, and neck.  Metal was removed from his body for many years by a doctor and she removed some.  His skin condition was noted by the Veterans Administration (VA), but no allowance was made for this condition. 

4.  She provides:

* self-authored statements
* Certificate of Death
* letter, dated 16 March 1953, from an infantry lieutenant
* VA correspondence
* WD AGO Form 8-117 (Immunization Register)
* Obituary and related documents
* letters from the FSM
* DD Form 214
* NA Form 13075 (Questionnaire About Military Service)

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), St. Louis, MO, in 1973.  It is believed his records were lost or destroyed in that fire.  This case is being considered using the documents the applicant provides.

3.  The FSM's DD Form 214 shows he enlisted in the Regular Army on 5 September 1950 for a period of 3 years.  He served in the Infantry Branch, and he was promoted to SFC effective 12 April 1953.  He was awarded the:

* Combat Infantryman Badge
* Korean Service Medal with two bronze service stars
* United Nations Service Medal 
* Bronze Star Medal

4.  His DD Form 214 shows in:

* item 29 (Wounds Received as a Result of Action with Enemy Forces) – "None"  
* item 38, in part – "1 day lost under sec 6(a) app 2b MCM [Manual for Courts-Martial] 1951"

5.  On 5 September 1953, he was honorably discharged after completing 3 years of total net service for pay purposes.  

6.  The FSM is not listed in the Korean War Casualty File maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration.

7.  The applicant provides several letters from the FSM sent to her while he was in Korea.  None of the letters indicate he had been wounded.  

8.  A VA letter, dated 1 April 1954, shows he was awarded service-connected disability for an unspecified eye condition rated 10 percent disabling.  Service connection for an unspecified skin condition and hypertension were denied.

9.  Special Regulation 615-360-1 (Enlisted Personnel - Separation of Enlisted Personnel), in effect at the time, provided instructions for completing the DD Form 214.  It stated for item 38, if the individual lost any time under Section 6(a), Appendix 2b, MCM, dated 1951, enter the total number of days lost.  

10.  Section 6(a), Appendix 2b, MCM, dated 1951, stated, in effect, that every Soldier who without proper authority absented himself from his organization, station, or duty for more than 1 day was required to make up that time before being released from active duty.

11.  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.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  For historical purposes, the Army has an interest in maintaining the integrity of its records.  The data and information contained in those records should reflect the conditions and circumstances that existed at the time the records were created.  In the absence of a showing of material error or injustice, there is a reluctance to recommend that those records be changed.  

2.  In this case, there is no evidence of material error or injustice in the entry on the FSM's DD Form 214 documenting a day of time lost, and the entry should not be removed.  Based on the applicant's statement, it appears the FSM absented himself from his unit without authority for 1 day upon learning she was pregnant.  The entry on the DD Form 214 has historical importance in that it explains why he was credited with 3 years of service from 5 September 1950 to 5 September 1953, which is actually a period of 3 years and 1 day.  The record shows that he fulfilled his obligation to make up his time lost and that the incident had no lasting impact on him, as indicated by his overall record of outstanding military service.  

3.  Unfortunately, the applicant's statement and the documentation she has provided do not meet the evidentiary requirements for award of the Purple Heart.  In the absence of official documentation confirming the FSM was wounded as a result of hostile action, that the wound required treatment by medical personnel, and that such treatment was made a matter of official record, there is no basis for awarding the Purple Heart to the FSM or for correcting his record to show he received this award.  

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.  This decision in no way diminishes the FSM's service to his country or the hardships he and his family endured as a result of his service.  The applicant and all Americans should be proud of the FSM's 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)                                         AR20130020240



3


ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

 RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


1

ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20130020240



2


ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

 RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


1