IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 28 May 2015
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20140016999
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 niece of a deceased former service member (FSM), requests correction of her uncle's record to show he was awarded the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states the FSM should be awarded the Purple Heart because he was killed in action (KIA) in World War II (WWII). She also requests replacements for the insignias and medals listed on his Inventory of Effects.
3. The applicant provides:
* Army Review Boards Agency letter, dated 26 August 2014
* her letter, dated 14 September 2014
* her mother's birth certificate
* her mother and father's marriage license
* FSM's birth certificate
* her birth certificate
* FSM's father's Certificate of Death Registration
* FSM's mother's Certificate of Death Registration
* FSM's Funeral Record and Ledger
* her mother's death certificate
* her marriage certificate (1st marriage)
* her marriage certificate (2nd marriage)
* her Indiana Operator License
* FSM's Inventory of Effects
* FSM's War Department Report of Death
* FSM's Disinterment Directive
* FSM's Receipt of Remains
* FSM's Report of Burial
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. Service medals and awards are not issued by the ABCMR. However, the applicant may obtain his medals by submitting his request in writing to: National Personnel Records Center, ATTN: Army Reference Branch, 1 Archives Drive, St. Louis, Missouri 63138. This issue will not be further addressed in this Record of Proceedings.
3. The FSM's military records are not available to the Board for review. A fire destroyed approximately 18 million service members' records at the NPRC in 1973. It is believed that the FSM's records were lost or destroyed in that fire. The only available documents are those provided by the applicant and they are sufficient for the Board to conduct a fair and impartial review of this case.
4. The applicant provided copies of:
a. A War Department Report of Death showing the FSM was KIA on 10 July 1944 in the European Area.
b. Documents showing the FSM's remains were disinterred from the cemetery in Blosville, France, and sent to La Porte, Indiana.
c. An Inventory of Effects that include a listing of: Signal Corps Insignia, U.S. Insignia, Marksman Medal, and Sharpshooter Medal with five Bars.
5. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides Department of the Army policy, criteria, and administrative instructions concerning individual military decorations. It 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 been made a matter of official record.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
The FSM was KIA in WWII. He should be posthumously awarded the Purple Heart.
BOARD VOTE:
___x____ ___x____ ___x____ GRANT FULL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION
BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:
The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to warrant a recommendation for relief. As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records be corrected by creating an appropriate document to show the FSM was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received in action on 10 July 1944 and issuing the Purple Heart to the applicant.
___________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) AR20100010311
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ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20140016999
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ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
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