IN THE CASE OF:	

		BOARD DATE:	  22 May 2014

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20130020832 


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 that on 4 March 1943 while riding his motorcycle in Tunisia, Africa, he was shot in the head and lost consciousness crashing his motorcycle.  He received treatment at the 151st Field Artillery Hospital.

3.  The applicant provides:

* WD AGO Form 53-55 (Record and Report of Separation-Honorable Discharge)
* Miscellaneous medical documents

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 complete 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 he provided and a reconstructed record provided by NPRC.

3.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he enlisted in the Regular Army on 
14 January 1941.  He arrived in Northern Ireland on 26 January 1942 and he participated in two campaigns.  Item 22 (Decorations and Citations) does not show the Purple Heart, and item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) contains the entry "None."

4.  The applicant provides and the record contains:

	a.  A Medical Department Form 52b (Emergency Medical Tag) which shows on 4 March 1943 while assigned to the 151st Field Artillery, the applicant was treated at the Regimental Aid Station for lacerations and cuts to the right side of his head and face.  The applicant reported that he lost consciousness near Sbeitla, Tunisia.

	b.  A Medical Department Form 52a (Index to Register Patients) shows that on 6 March 1943 the applicant was treated at the 9th Evacuation Hospital for lacerations to his head and face.  This document shows the applicant was injured when his motorcycle overturned.

	c.  Progess Notes, dated 11 March 1943, in which the medical officer indicated that the applicant reported that his injury was the result of a sniper's bullet while riding down the road on his motorcycle and he was blind in his right eye.  The physician noted that there was no record of a gunshot wound in the applicant's 52d (Field Medical Record Jacket) and the eye appeared normal with no evidence of direct injury.

	d.  A WD AGO Form 38 (Report of Physical Examination of Enlisted Personnel Prior to Discharge, Release from Active Duty or Retirement) dated, 
17 October 1945.  The continuation section of this form contains the entry:

	"Impairment of vision, right eye, incurred 4 May 1943, Africa, when hit by 	unknown object in combat."

	e.  An Abbreviated Clinical Record, completed in April 1943, which lists the applicant's chief complaint as blindness in the right eye as the result of a combat on 4 March 1943.  He contended that he was hit by a rifle bullet on the right forehead fracturing his skull.
	f.  Medical notes, dated 25 March 1943, which state the applicant arrived in North Africa on 3 January 1943 and while working on the Tunisian Front he encountered both snipers and artillery fire.  He was knocked from his motorcycle when a bullet from a sniper's gun struck him in the right temporal region.  He was unconscious for few hours then woke up but after seeing his wound he lapsed into unconsciousness again.  His chief complaint afterwards was blindness in the right eye which lasted for 11 days.  The applicant also reported experiencing an artillery explosion and this same blast killed his best friend, blowing off an arm and both legs.  His buddy asked the applicant to shoot him but he could not do it. After that the applicant reported being too nervous to be alone. 

	g.  A Special Neurological Examination, completed on 3 September 1968, which states the applicant sustained an injury to the right temple in 1943.  Immediately after the injury he had some loss of sensation in the lower portion of the right temple and the right cheek.  He was diagnosed with hypeshesia and hypalgesia, right temple and cheek due to interruption of fibers of the auriculotemporal nerve, a branch of the mandibular portion of the filth cranial nerve.

5.  On 18 October 1945, he was honorably discharged.

6.  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.  To award the Purple Heart there must be substantiating evidence verifying that a wound was the result of hostile action and required treatment by medical personnel and that the medical treatment was made a matter of official record.

2.  The fact that the applicant was injured on 4 March 1943 is not in question.  However, there is insufficient evidence to support that his injury was the result of hostile action.  The applicant was treated on 4 and 6 March 1943, and there is no reference to his injury being caused as the result of a sniper attack but there are entries stating that he was injured when his motorcycle turned over. Further, the record shows that on 11 March 1943 the applicant reported that his injuries were the result of a sniper attack; however, the medical officer could not find any evidence of a gunshot wound in the applicant's record.  Later medical records show that the applicant continued to report that his injury was the result of sniper fire.  Unfortunately, in the absence of documentary evidence substantiating the circumstances under which he was injured, there is an insufficient basis upon which to award the Purple Heart.

3.  In view of the above, his request should be denied.

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)                                         AR20130020832





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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20130020832



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