IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  25 September 2014

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20140000704 


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 great, great, grandson of a deceased former service member (FSM), requests correction of his great, great, grandfather's records to show:

* award of the Purple Heart
* award of the Civil War Campaign Medal
* any additional awards he may be entitled to based on his military service to include an Honorable Discharge Certificate

2.  The applicant also requests he be issued any awards his great, great, grandfather is entitled to.

3.  The applicant states the FSM's military record shows he enlisted in the Army on 11 August 1862, mustered on 29 August 1862, and received combat wounds at the Battle of Gettysburg on 2 to 3 July 1863.  On 6 January 1864, he was honorably discharged from the Army by reason of disability.  His dates of service and the combat wounds he received at the Battle of Gettysburg entitle him to the Purple Heart and Civil War Campaign Medal.

4.  The applicant provides:

* a birth certificate
* a birth record
* three death certificates
* a photograph identified as the FSM
* a photograph of a tombstone identified as belonging to the FSM
* a page from the 1910 U.S. Census
* the FSM's enlistment document
* the FSM's Certificate of Disability for Discharge
* twenty-one pages of military records pertaining to the FSM
* two pages from a publication titled The Medical and Surgical History of the Civil War - Volume X
* four pages of articles regarding Civil War individuals who served in the Civil War 

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.  This case is being considered based on the evidence provided by the applicant.

3.  The applicant provides the following documents pertaining to the FSM:

* a voluntary enlistment document showing he enlisted in the Army of the United States on 11 August 1862 for a period of 3 years
* a Company Muster Roll, dated 29 August 1862, for Company G, 20th Regiment, Maine Infantry, showing he joined for duty on 11 August 1862 and mustered into service on that date
* several Company Muster Roll pages showing he was present for duty from November 1862 to June 1863, absent and in the hospital from July to December 1863, and discharged for disability on 6 January 1864

4.  The applicant also provides the FSM's Certificate of Disability wherein it shows he was discharged on 6 January 1864 by reason of disability for wounds he received at the Battle of Gettysburg.  This certificate shows he was unfit for duty for the past 5 months and was incapable of performing the duties of a Soldier because of a severe gunshot wound to his left arm with loss of power of his hand.  He was determined to be totally disabled.

5.  The applicant provides a page titled Injuries of the Upper Extremities from a publication titled The Medical and Surgical History of the Civil War - Volume X wherein it stated the FSM was wounded on 2 and 3 July 1863 and underwent three operations on the upper left radius.  He was discharged on 6 January 1864 and pensioned.  His hand withered and was partially stiff.

6.  The applicant provides four pages that indicate the Purple Heart was issued to three Soldiers wounded during the Civil War.  The sources for this information was not provided.

7.  The Purple Heart was established by General George Washington at Newburgh, New York, on 7 August 1782, during the Revolutionary War as a means for recognition for any singularly meritorious action.  It was not awarded for wounds or injuries Soldiers sustained.  The award was initially called the Badge of Military Merit but was referred to as the "Purple Heart" because of its design.   

8.  The Purple Heart 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 United States to any member of the Armed Forces or any civilian national of the United States 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.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained 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, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.  

10.  War Department Circular Number 6, dated 22 February 1932, published the initial criteria for the reestablished Purple Heart and ended authorization for award of the wound chevron.  The circular limited awards of the Purple Heart for acts or service performed prior to 22 February 1932 and stated the Purple Heart would not be awarded posthumously.  

11.  Executive Order 9277, dated 3 December 1942, authorized posthumous awards for individuals wounded or killed in action beginning 6 December 1941.  Executive Order 10409, dated 12 November 1952, extended the authorization for posthumous awards to individuals wounded or killed in action after 5 April 1917.  Both Executive Orders direct the Services' regulations to "be of uniform application" with respect to the award of the Purple Heart.

12.  Executive Order 11016, dated 25 April 1962, as amended, currently provides the authority to award the Purple Heart.  It also authorized posthumous awards to individuals wounded or killed in action after 5 April 1917.  

13.  On 30 April 1999, the U.S. Army Human Resources Command (HRC), prepared an Information Sheet for the purpose of clarifying the Army’s position on award of the Purple Heart for veterans of the Civil War.  In this paper HRC stated:

	a.  Due to the difficulty of substantiating the eligibility of large numbers of individuals for an award after the passage of considerable time, the Department of Defense opposed legislative proposals which would render the authority to award the Purple Heart retroactive to the Civil War and the Spanish American War.

	b.  The Army has record of only two awards of the Purple Heart to individuals for wounds incurred prior to World War I.  Both presentations were made to living recipients; one a Civil War veteran, age 100, for wounds received in 1865, and the other to a veteran of the Campaign against the Moros in the Philippines in 1907.  There have been no posthumous presentations of the Purple Heart for wounds received prior to 1917. 

14.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 states the Civil War Campaign Medal was established by War Department General Order 2, dated 1907.  It was awarded for service between 15 April 1861 and 9 April 1865, or in Texas between 15 April 1861 and 20 August 1866.  This regulation also states the Civil War Campaign Medal is no longer available for issue. 

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence of record confirms the FSM served during a qualifying period for award of the Civil War Campaign Medal.  Although this medal is no longer available for issue, the FSM's records should be corrected to show this award.

2.  With respect to the Purple Heart, the Purple Heart was not awarded during the Civil War.  When the award was reestablished in 1932, upon application, living Civil War veterans who met the criteria could receive the award.  By authorizing posthumous awards for individuals wounded or killed in action after 5 April 1917, Executive Orders later confirmed the intent to maintain the Purple Heart as an award for individuals who served during World War I and later conflicts.   
3.  Having died in 1914, the FSM could not have applied for award of the Purple Heart when it was reestablished, and there is no legal or regulatory authority to award the Purple Heart posthumously for wounds incurred prior to 5 April 1917.  Therefore, there is no basis for granting this portion of the requested relief.

4.  With respect to an Honorable Discharge Certificate, the available record shows the FSM was issued a Certificate of Disability upon his release from the Army.  This was the proper certificate issued to a person who was discharged by reason of disability.  Therefore, there is no basis for granting this portion of the requested relief.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF 

____x___  ____x___  ___x____  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

1.  The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to warrant a recommendation for partial relief.  As a result, the Board recommends that an appropriate document should be produced to show the FSM was awarded the Civil War Campaign Medal.

2.  The Board further determined the evidence presented is insufficient to warrant a portion of the requested relief.  As a result, the Board recommends denial of so much of the application that pertains to the Purple Heart and Honorable Discharge Certificate.



      _______ _   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)                                         AR20140000704





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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20140000704



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