IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  14 October 2014

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20140003185 


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 son of a deceased former service member (FSM), requests the FSM be awarded the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states:

	a.  His father had bullet wounds to the neck and chest which he suffered from enemy fire while serving on Okinawa.  

	b.  As the FSM was being shipped to the mainland due to his injuries, a Japanese submarine sank the ship he was being transported in.  The FSM along with other injured Army personnel were eventually rescued from the sea.  

	c.  During World War II (WWII) in Camp Lockett, CA, "Black Soldiers" were discriminated against and it would not have been unusual for them to have been denied the Purple Heart.  

	d.  Item 34 (Wounds) of his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation-Honorable Discharge) shows the entry "None."  However, the omission was either by design or by error.

	e.  Item 40 (Reason and Authority for Separation) of his WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he was being discharged from the hospital.  His stay at the hospital is consistent with having received war-related injuries received in battle.  

	f.  He strongly encourages the Board to read the article he provides regarding Camp Lockett.  After doing so, he is hopeful that the Board will have very little doubt as to how Black servicemen were treated during WWII and at Camp Lockett.   Farm animals going to the slaughter would have received better treatment. 

	g.  Black servicemen were systematically discriminated against and even denied service medals that represented valor in action.  It was not until 1996 that former President William Clinton corrected some of the wrongs of the treatment of Black servicemen by awarding the Congressional Medal of Honor to 7 Black Soldiers who were denied the award based on the color of their skin.

	h.  He had the honor of corresponding via email with second lieutenant (2LT) Baker's wife before he passed at age 90.  It was that relationship that encouraged him to do what he is doing today, cleaning house.

	i.  Of the 7 black recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1996, 2LT Baker was the only living recipient.  He was moved to tears when he saw the ceremony on television.  

	j.  He saw his father's war wounds which he received in battle from enemy fire on Okinawa.  The FSM would find little solace telling him untruths about wounds that he now knows as an adult, and having been a deputy for 30 years, that the flesh wounds he saw on his father's chest and neck were consistent with injuries sustained by gun fire.

	k.  His father earned the right to receive the Purple Heart for his injuries.  It is now, nearly 70 years after the fact, that this wrong can be corrected.  He hopes that the deliberation will be brief, and the vote unanimous, in making a decision by doing the right thing by awarding his father the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant provides a WD AGO Form 53-55, death certificate, letter from the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC), and a California State Military Museum 21-page article titled "Camp Lockett (Mitchell Convalescent Hospital)."

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 NPRC in 1973.  It is believed that his records were lost or destroyed in that fire.  This case is being considered based on the documents provided by the applicant and information obtained from the Department of the Army, Office of the Surgeon General Hospital Admission Cards provided by the National Archives and Records Administration.  

3.  The FSM's WD AGO Form 53-55 indicates:

	a.  he was inducted and he entered active service on 30 March 1943;

	b.  He was assigned to the 644th Ordnance and he served in the Asiatic-Pacific theater of operations from 20 December 1943 to 29 June 1945;

	c.  he earned the Sharpshooter Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar;

	d.  he participated in the Philippine and Ryukyu campaigns and he was awarded the American Theater Ribbon, WW II Victory Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Theater Ribbon with two bronze service stars, Philippine Liberation Ribbon with two bronze service stars, and the Good Conduct Medal;

	e.  in item 34 is annotated "None"; and

	f.  he was honorably discharged on 14 November 1945 and he was provided a Certificate of Disability at Mitchell Convalescent Hospital, Camp Lockett, CA.

4.  Information obtained from hospital admission cards indicates the FSM was admitted for treatment in May/June 1944 with a first diagnosis of "stomach, disease of, other."

5.  The applicant provides a letter from the NPRC authorizing shipment of the awards shown of the FSM's WD AGO Form 53-55.  

6.  The applicant also provides a California State Military Museum 21-page article titled "Camp Lockett (Mitchell Convalescent Hospital), and he points out several sections of the article which confirm his contention of racial discrimination against Black Soldiers during WWII.

7.  There is no evidence in the available records that shows the FSM sustained injuries as a result of hostile action or that he received treatment for injuries that were sustained as a result of hostile action.

8.  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 contention that the FSM should be awarded the Purple Heart has been carefully considered.  

2.  There is no evidence in the available records and the applicant has not provided sufficient evidence that shows the FSM sustained injuries as a result of hostile action or that he received treatment for injuries that were sustained as a result of hostile action.

3.  The applicant's contentions and the evidence he submitted were carefully reviewed and considered; however, in the absence of evidence showing the FSM was wounded as a result of hostile action, that he received medical treatment for such injuries, and that this treatment was made a matter of official record, there is insufficient evidence available to support award of the Purple Heart in this case.

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 concerned to know that this action in no way diminishes the sacrifices made by the FSM in service to our Nation.  The applicant and all Americans should be justifiably 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)                                         AR20140003185



3


ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

 RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


1

ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20140003185



2


ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

 RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


1