IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 19 November 2015 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20150005549 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 sole surviving son of the deceased former service member (FSM), requests modification of the discharge document to show the FSM's status as a prisoner of war (POW). 2. The applicant states the FSM was wounded by the Germans and held as a POW until the armistice (11 November 1918). His first medical treatment occurred almost 2 months after he was wounded. 3. The applicant provides copies of – * an article from the Pipestone County (Minnesota) Museum * a photograph * Form Number 525 A.G.O. (Honorable Discharge from the United States Army) * Enlistment Record * four pages of medical records * extract from the Pipestone County Star, dated 29 November 1918 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 available records show the FSM was inducted on 29 April 1918. He departed the United States on 20 June 1918 and served in France with A Company, 358th Infantry. He sustained a gunshot wound on 26 September 1918. He returned on the U.S. on 12 February 1919. The Enlistment Record remarks show “No AWOL (absence without leave) or absence from duty noted.” 3. He was honorably discharged on 26 June 1919 due to a certificate of disability. 4. The documents submitted in support of the request include: a. A Pipestone County Museum printout, which notes that due to the intensity of the fighting coupled with the desperate straits of the German troops near the end of the war very few American POWs lived very long after being captured. The author recounts that the FSM credited survival as a POW to the fact that he spoke fluent German. b. Medical records including a Base Hospital Number 51 X-ray report, dated 24 November 1918, showing retained foreign bodies within compound- comminuted fractures of the major shoulder bones. A 13 December 1918 report from another hospital shows a 3-inch scar and a 23 December 1918 record for yet a third hospital shows he was still being treated daily. c. An extract from the Pipestone County Star, dated 29 November 1918, which states “Thursday’s city papers mentioned the fact that Walter…, had rejoined his company in France after having been held a prisoner in Germany for some time…” 5. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states the Prisoner of War Medal was authorized on 8 November 1985 and is awarded to individuals who in past armed conflicts were taken prisoner or held captive after 5 April 1917. The Prisoner of War Medal is to be issued only to those U.S. military personnel and other personnel granted creditable U.S. military service who were taken prisoner and held captive – * while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force * while serving with friendly forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party by foreign armed forces that are hostile to the United States, under circumstances which the Secretary concerned finds to have been comparable to those under which persons have generally been held captive by enemy armed forces during periods of armed conflict 6. Army Regulation 635-5 (Separation Documents) established the standardized policy for preparing and distributing discharge documents. It directed that, in the case of prisoners of war, the unit of assignment, country, and dates of capture and release would be entered in the “Remarks” section of the discharge document. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: 1. While there is no direct evidence that the FSM was a POW, the circumstantial evidence is quite compelling. 2. There is no other apparent explanation for the almost 2-month delay in his receiving medical treatment for a disabling wound. 3. In view of the foregoing findings and conclusions, it would be appropriate to rectify this injustice by correcting the applicant’s records as recommended below. 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 of the individual concerned be corrected by: a. awarding him the Prisoner of War Medal and b. showing in an appropriate document the following: “While serving with Company A, 358th Infantry he was captured on 26 September 1918 and repatriated on 11 November 1918.” _______ _ _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) AR20150005549 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20150005549 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1