BOARD DATE: 30 May 2018 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160014332 BOARD VOTE: _____x____ __x_____ _____x___ GRANT FULL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING ________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION 2 Enclosures 1. Board Determination/Recommendation 2. Evidence and Consideration BOARD DATE: 30 May 2018 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160014332 BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION: The Board determined the evidence presented is 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. posthumously awarding the FSM the Purple Heart for wounds received in action on 1 December 1950 in Korea, b. adding the Purple Heart to his DD Form 214, c. deleting the current entry in item 29 of his DD Form 214 and replacing it with the entry "Korea, 1 December 1950" and d. issuing the medal 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. BOARD DATE: 30 May 2018 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160014332 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 widow of a deceased former service member (FSM), requests correction of the FSM's DD Form 214 (Report of Separation from the Armed Forces of the United States) to show award of the Purple Heart. 2. The applicant states: * the FSM was wounded on 1 November 1950 in Korea * he was treated for his injuries in a Japan hospital * he was never awarded the Purple Heart 3. The applicant provides: * FSM's DD Form 214 * FSM's citation for award of the Silver Star * newspaper articles * letter written to a Member of Congress in 1974 * article describing military operations in Korea * FSM's death certificate * marriage certificate and license 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 applicant's complete military records are not available to the Board for review. A fire destroyed approximately 18 million service members' records at the National Personnel Records Center in 1973. It is believed that the applicant's records were lost or destroyed in that fire. However, there were sufficient documents remaining in a reconstructed record for the Board to conduct a fair and impartial review of his case. 3. His DD Form 214 shows: * he enlisted in the Regular Army on 10 August 1949 for a period of 3 years * he served in Korea * he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge, Silver Star, Korean Service Medal with five bronze service stars, and United Nations Service Medal * he was honorably released from active duty on 16 February 1953 * he completed 3 years, 1 month, and 17 days of net service during this period, including 1 year, 2 months, and 2 days of foreign service 4. Item 29 (Wounds Received as a Result of Action with Enemy Forces) of his DD Form 214 shows the entry "None." 5. His records contain Office of the Surgeon General Hospital Admission Card information showing he was hospitalized on 1 December 1950 in Korea for frostbite (or freezing) to his foot. The causative agent is listed as "Heat, cold, weather and elements: Exposure to cold, climatic." The activity is listed as occurring while performing assigned duties and related thereto. 6. His name does not appear in the Korean casualty roster. 7. There are no orders for the Purple Heart in his available records. 8. The applicant provided newspaper articles, dated 1951, stating: * he was awarded the Silver Star * he saved 15 buddies in Korea * he was wounded in action in Korea REFERENCES: 1. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides that 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, not merely examination, by a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been documented in the service member's medical and/or health record. The key issue commanders must take into consideration when contemplating an award of this decoration is the degree to which the enemy caused the injury. The fact that the proposed recipient was participating in direct or indirect combat operations is a necessary prerequisite, but is not sole justification for award. 2. While award of the Purple Heart for frostbite injuries is currently prohibited, such injuries were previously a basis for the award. Until 23 August 1951, Army Regulation 600-45 (Decorations), which governed the award of Army decorations, stated that for the purpose of considering an award of the Purple Heart, a “wound” is defined as an injury to any part of the body from an outside force, element, or agent sustained while in action in the face of the armed enemy or as a result of a hostile act of such enemy. An “element” pertains to weather and the award of this decoration to personnel who were severely frostbitten while actually engaged in combat was authorized. The Purple Heart was no longer authorized for severe frostbite injuries after 23 August 1951. 3. The Office of the Surgeon General files, a health record research project, involved transposing hospital admission card data from the periods of World War II and the Korean Conflict onto magnetic tape. In 1988, the National Research Council made these tape files available to the National Personnel Records Center. It was widely believed that these tapes would become a valuable substitute for the records lost in the National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973. The best available estimation of the completeness of this project is that it captured at least 95 percent of all combat casualty hospital admissions. DISCUSSION: 1. The applicant contends the FSM was never awarded the Purple Heart for injuries he sustained on 1 November 1950 in Korea. 2. The newspaper articles she provided were carefully considered. 3. Army Regulation 600-8-22 establishes basic requirements for award of the Purple Heart. The Purple Heart requires evidence verifying: * the wound was the result of hostile action * treatment of the wound by medical personnel * documentation of the wound in official records 4. There is no evidence in the FSM's available records showing he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action on 1 November 1950 in Korea and treated by medical personnel. 5. Nevertheless, contemporaneous medical evidence of record shows he was hospitalized on 1 December 1950 for frostbite (or freezing) to his foot. The causative agent is listed as "Heat, cold, weather and elements: Exposure to cold, climatic" and the activity is listed as occurring while performing assigned duties and related thereto. 6. The governing decorations regulation stated that for the purpose of considering an award of the Purple Heart, a “wound” was defined as an injury to any part of the body from an outside force, element, or agent sustained while in action in the face of the armed enemy or as a result of a hostile act of such enemy. An “element” pertained to weather and the award of this decoration to personnel who were severely frostbitten while actually engaged in combat was authorized. 7. Since the Purple Heart was authorized for severe frostbite injuries until 23 August 1951, it appears the FSM met the criteria for award of the Purple Heart for wounds received in action on 1 December 1950 in Korea. //NOTHING FOLLOWS// ABCMR Record of Proceedings AR20150000953 Enclosure 1 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20160014332 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20160014332 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 2