BOARD DATE: 17 July 2018 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160018767 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: 17 July 2018 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160018767 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 former service member the Purple Heart for wounds received in action on 29 September 1918 and b. issuing the Purple Heart and World War I Victory 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: 17 July 2018 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160018767 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 granddaughter of a deceased former service member (FSM), requests correction of her grandfather's military records to show award of the Purple Heart. 2. The applicant states her grandfather served in the Army assigned to Company L, 79th Division, 313th Infantry, during World War I. While overseas in France he was severely wounded during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. Her grandfather died in 1943 before she was born so she never have the opportunity to know him. He has no surviving children. Her grandfather is buried in Baltimore National Cemetery. 3. The applicant provides: * newspaper article, published on 15 February 1919 * FSM's Transcript from Record of Service * FSM's Station and Record of Events * her birth certificate and marriage record * her mother's birth certificate, marriage license, and death certificate * U.S. census of 1910 and 1930 * FSM's report of marriage * FSM's death certificate * letter from the National Personnel Records Center * Morning Report for 313th Infantry, Company L, for October 1918 * FSM's discharge certificate * FSM's interment record * FSM's World War I registration card 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 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 FSM'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 this case. 3. His Discharge Certificate shows he was inducted on 29 May 1918. 4. His Transcript from Record of Service shows: * he sailed from the United States On 8 July 1918 * he served in France * he was wounded in action on 29 September 1918 * he arrived at port on return to the United States on 8 February 1919 * no decorations, service medals, or citations * he was honorably discharged on 21 June 1920 in the rank of private REFERENCES: Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) prescribes Army policy, criteria, and administrative instructions concerning individual and unit military awards. a. The Purple Heart was established by General George Washington at Newburgh, New York on 7 August 1782 during the Revolutionary War. It was reestablished by the President of the United States per War Department General Orders Number 3 in 1932. It was awarded in the name of the President of the United States to any member of the Armed Forces or any civilian national of the United States who, while serving under competent authority in any capacity with one of the U.S. Armed Services after 5 April 1917, died or sustained wounds as a result of hostile action. Effective 19 May 1998, award of the Purple Heart is limited to members of the Armed Forces of the United States. b. 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. c. The World War I Victory Medal is awarded for service between 6 April 1917 and 11 November 1918. DISCUSSION: 1. The evidence of record shows the FSM had enlisted service from 29 May 1918 to 21 June 1920 and he was wounded in action on 29 September 1918 in France during World War I, which confirms his eligibility for the Purple Heart. 2. The FSM served a qualifying period for award of the World War I Victory Medal. //NOTHING FOLLOWS// ABCMR Record of Proceedings AR20150000953 Enclosure 1 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20160018767 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20160018767 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 2