DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY 

BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS 

 
Application for the Correction of 
the Coast Guard Record of: 
 
                                                                                BCMR Docket No. 2003-102 
 
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

 

 
 

FINAL DECISION 

 
ANDREWS, Deputy Chair: 
 
 
This proceeding was conducted under the provisions of section 1552 of title 10 
and section 425 of title 14 of the United States Code.  The application was completed on 
June 16, 2003, upon receipt of his completed application and military records. 
 
 
ed members who were designated to serve as the Board in this case. 
 

This final decision, dated February 18, 2004, is signed by the three duly appoint-

APPLICANT’S REQUEST AND ALLEGATIONS 

 

The applicant asked the Board to correct his military record to show that he was 
awarded  a  Purple  Heart  for  an  injury  to  his  right  index  finger  during  his  enlistment 
from March 13, 1945, to May 13, 1946.  He alleged that he injured the finger and should 
have  received  a  Purple  Heart.    He  further  alleged  that  he  discovered  the  error  in  his 
record on September 2, 2002. 
 

SUMMARY OF THE APPLICANT’S RECORDS 

 

On  March  13,  1945,  the  applicant  enlisted  as  a  xxxxxxxxx  in  the  Coast  Guard 
Reserve.    After  completing  training,  on  July  1,  1945,  he  was  assigned  to  the  U.S.S. 
XXXXX, where he served until March 10, 1946.  Thereafter, he was transferred to the 
training center in xxxxxxxxxxxxx. 

 
The applicant’s military record contains the following medical records: 
 

•  a report and certificate signed by a physician attesting to the applicant’s fitness for 

enlistment; 

•  an inoculation record recording the vaccines he received upon enlistment; 
•  a  Medical  History  form  dated  May  11,  1946,  showing  that  the  applicant  had  been 

examined and was found to be dentally and physically qualified for discharge; and 

•  a Termination of Health Service form dated May 13, 1946, on which a physician and 

the applicant himself indicated that he had no physical defects. 

 
No  documentation  of  any  illness  or  injury  appears  in  the  applicant’s  military 

record. 
 
On  May  13,  1946,  the  applicant  was  honorably  discharged  from  the  Reserve, 
having served one year, two months, and one day on active duty.  At the time of his 
discharge, it was noted that he had earned and was entitled to wear an Asiatic-Pacific 
Campaign  Medal,  an  American  Area  Campaign  Medal,  and  a  World  War  II  Victory 
Medal. 
  

APPLICABLE LAW 

 
 
During World War II, the Coast Guard was a part of the Navy.  SECNAVINST 
1650.1G states that during World War II, the Purple Heart was awarded to members of 
the Armed Forces who have been wounded or killed in action against an enemy of the 
United  States.    Paragraph  e  of  the  instruction  states  that  “[d]uring  World  War  I,  and 
World War II, and Korea [sic], an individual must have been wounded as a direct result 
of  enemy  action.    During  subsequent  conflicts  (Vietnam  and  Operation  DESERT 
STORM), the individual must have been wounded as a result of enemy action (direct or 
indirect).” 
 

VIEWS OF THE COAST GUARD 

 
 
On  August  13,  2003,  the  Judge  Advocate  General  of  the  Coast  Guard  recom-
mended that the case  be administratively closed.  He pointed out that the applicant’s 
military  record  contains  “very  little  in  the  way  of  medical  records”  and  no  evidence 
supporting the applicant’s allegation of injury.  Given the lack of medical evidence, the 
Judge  Advocate  General  argued  that  “the  case  [has  been]  improperly  docketed  in 
accordance with 33 C.F.R. § 52.321 because the file lacks the medical records necessary 
to a proper determination of Applicant’s request.” 
 

                                                 
1 33 C.F.R. § 52.32(a)(1) allows the Chair to close a case without action by the Board if she determines that 
the  case  was  erroneously  docketed  under  § 52.21,  which  requires  the  Board  to  receive  any  applicable 
military and medical records prior to docketing a case. 

APPLICANT’S RESPONSE TO THE VIEWS OF THE COAST GUARD 

 
On  August  25,  2003,  the  Chair  sent  a  copy  of  the  Coast  Guard’s  views  to  the 
applicant.  The Chair asked the applicant to respond within 30 days either by submit-
ting  documentation  of  his  alleged  injury,  by  requesting  an  extension  of  the  time  to 
respond, or by notifying the Board that he had no objection to his case being adminis-
tratively closed in accordance with the Coast Guard’s recommendation.  No response 
was received from the applicant. 
 

FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS 

 
 
The  Board  makes  the  following  findings  and  conclusions  on  the  basis  of  the 
applicant's military record and submissions, the Coast Guard's submissions, and appli-
cable law: 
 

The  Board  has  jurisdiction  concerning  this  matter  pursuant  to  10  U.S.C. 

1. 
§ 1552.   
 

2. 

An application to the Board must be filed within three years of the day the 
applicant  discovers  the  alleged  error  in  his  record.  10  U.S.C.  §  1552(b).  The  applicant 
was discharged in 1946 and knew or should have known that he had not received the 
Purple Heart at that time.  Therefore, although the applicant alleged that he did not dis-
cover the alleged error until September 2002, the Board finds that the application was 
filed more than 50 years after the statute of limitations expired.  Thus, it was untimely. 

 
3. 

Under 10 U.S.C. § 1552(b), the Board may waive the three-year statute of 
limitations if it is in the interest of justice to do so.  To determine whether it is in the 
interest of justice to waive the statute of limitations, the Board should consider the rea-
sons  for  the  delay  and  conduct  a  cursory  review  of  the  merits  of  the  case.  Dickson  v. 
Sec’y of Defense, 68 F.3d 1396 (D.D.C. 1995); Allen v. Card, 799 F. Supp. 158, 164 (D.D.C. 
1992). 

 
4. 

 The applicant provided no explanation for his failure to request the cor-

rection of the alleged error in his record at an earlier date.   

 
5. 

6. 

 
There is no evidence in the record that the applicant was ever wounded as 
a direct result of enemy action during his enlistment in the Reserve.  The applicant has 
not  proved  that  he  met  the  criterion  for  a  Purple  Heart  during  World  War  II  under 
SECNAVINST 1650.1G. 
 
 
The  Judge  Advocate  General  recommended  that  the  case  be  administra-
tively  closed  because  of  the  paucity  of  medical  records  in  the  applicant’s  military 
record.      However,  the  applicant’s  military  record  contains  all  of  the  medical  records 
that  the  Board  would expect  to  find  in  the military record of  a World  War  II  veteran 
who was never seriously sick or injured:  a pre-enlistment physical examination report; 
inoculation  records;  a  Medical  History;  and  a  Termination  of  Health  Record  form.  
Although the applicant alleges that his finger was injured during his service, the Board 
will not assume,  based upon that allegation alone, that probative medical records are 
missing from his military records.  Moreover, the Board notes that the applicant did not 
respond to the Chair’s invitation to respond to the recommendation of the Judge Advo-
cate General.  Therefore, the Board concurs in the Chair’s decision not to close the case 
pursuant to 33 C.F.R. § 52.32(a)(1). 

7. 

 
 
Accordingly,  in  light  of  the  lack  of  evidence  supporting  the  applicant’s 
allegation and his failure to explain his great delay in filing his application, the Board 
finds no reason to waive the statute of limitations, and the applicant’s request should be 
denied. 
 

 

The  application  of 

former  xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,  USCGR, 

for 

ORDER 

 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

correction of his military record is denied. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 

 
 Nancy Lynn Friedman 

 

 

 

 
 Julia Andrews 

 

 

 

 
 
 Donald A. Pedersen