BOARD DATE: 1 August 2018 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20170000031 BOARD VOTE: _________ _______ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING ___x_____ ___x_____ ____x____ DENY APPLICATION 2 Enclosures 1. Board Determination/Recommendation 2. Evidence and Consideration BOARD DATE: 1 August 2018 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20170000031 BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION: The evidence presented does not demonstrate the existence of a probable error or injustice. Therefore, the Board determined the overall merits of this case are insufficient as a basis for correction of the records of the individual concerned. ______________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: 1 August 2018 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20170000031 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 requests award of the Purple Heart to her late father, a former service member (FSM). 2. The applicant states: a. In effect, her father's WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation – Honorable Discharge) does not show her father was twice wounded in action and received shrapnel in both legs on 27 January 1944 and on another unknown date. Her father bore two scars on his leg from shrapnel injuries. Her father noted in his World War II (WWII) personal journal that he was injured on 27 January 1945 and he did not move with his company. Her father told his family that he was promised the Purple Heart and never received it. Her father was in the "rifle" platoon and carried a Browning automatic rifle. Her father was injured several times in the field, but kept going. b. She discovered the error in 2014 while writing a manuscript of her father's timeline in WWII. Her father would never talk about WWII to his children other than he was injured. It would bring tears to her father's eyes. In hindsight, she believes that her father suffered from "survival syndrome." Her mother shared that after they were married, her father would lay in bed in a fetal position and just rock and cry. c. Her father was assigned to Company I, 2nd Battalion, 36th Infantry Division, 142nd Infantry Regiment, from February 1942 until April 1944 when he was transferred to Company B-2, 1st Maintenance Division, 469th Engineer Maintenance Division. While in the engineer division, he was switched back and forth from the 36th Infantry to the Maintenance Division. He eventually was promoted to sergeant of the motor pool in Germany. He also drove jeeps for the top commanders (General Patton) while in the Motor Pool Engineer Division. d. She also discovered her father had been injured several times. Once, when he dove into a foxhole and captured Germans for which he received the Bronze Star Medal and once when his platoon was in the middle of a German mortar barrage. He was injured in his ankle and thigh. Her father occasionally talked about how he was promised the Purple Heart after he was injured, but never received it nor did he receive a reason why. e. On one occasion, her father's grandson was pursuing award of the Purple Heart to her father and her father calmly, but firmly, requested his grandson not pursue the award because during that battle many men lost their lives and were injured much more seriously than he was. Her father's brother lost his lower leg during friendly fire and another brother was injury during a tank battle. f. Twelve years have passed since her father's death. She and her sister have taken it upon themselves to obtain the Purple Heart that was promised to their father when he was injured. It has taken several years to finally gather all the documentation to reach this point of being able to have her father's military record changed and award him the Purple Heart. Her father loved his country and served in the Army from February 1942 until September 1945, after the Germans surrendered. 3. The applicant provides the following: * father's WD AGO Form 53-55 * photograph of her father * one page from father's personal journal * four newspaper articles * father's death certificate * her birth certificate * two letters from grandson and daughter * email correspondence to daughter CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. 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 (NPRC) in 1973. It is believed that his records were lost or destroyed in that fire. However, there were sufficient documents remaining in a reconstructed record and that provided by the applicant for the Board to conduct a fair and impartial review of this case. 2. The available records contain the following: a. A WD AGO Form 53-55 that shows: * the FSM was inducted into the Army of the United States on 24 February 1942 and he held military occupational specialty (MOS) 319 (Construction Equipment Mechanic) * he was assigned to the 469th Engineer Maintenance Company * he served in the European Theater of Operations from 9 September 1943 to 4 September 1945 * he was honorably discharged on 21 September 1945, for demobilization * he completed 1 year, 1 month, and 14 days of continental service and 3 years, 3 months, and 24 days of foreign service * no entry in item 33 (Decorations and Citations) for the Purple Heart * no entry in item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) to indicate he was wounded in action during his period of service b. A WD AGO Form 100 (Army Separation Qualification Record) showing he performed the MOS 319 duties of inspecting and repairing graders, powered shovels, and bulldozers in the engineer motor pool. c. Hospitalization records from the Department of the Army, Office of the Surgeon General, showing he received medical treatment for acute Nasopharyngitis (common cold) in March 1944 and Rhinitis in April 1944. 3. The applicant provides the following: a. A photograph of her father and one page from her father's personal journal wherein the FSM wrote that on 29 January 1944 a shell came in and hit a radio car, killing 8, wounding 17, and he was pierced. b. A newspaper article titled "Leap Into Foxhole Gets A "Kamerad" for Private F_", dated 25 February 1944, pertaining to the FSM's action of jumping into a foxhole and having a German Soldier surrender. c. Two newspaper articles pertaining to the 5th Army's fighting actions. d. A newspaper article, dated 4 August 1944, pertaining to the FSM and his brothers serving and fighting during the war. The article stated the FSM's two brother were wounded in combat in Europe. e. FSM's death certificate showing he died on 6 August 2004. Her birth certificate which lists the FSM as her father. f. Two letters, dated 10 October and 7 November 2016, wherein the FSM's grandson and daughter requested award of the Purple Heart to the FSM. Also an email, dated 25 August 2016, wherein an individual advised the FSM's daughter no service treatment records for the FSM could be located and they may have been lost in the 1973 fire at the NPRC in St. Louis. REFERENCES: 1. Army Regulation (AR) 600-45 (Decorations), which governed the award of Army decorations until 23 August 1951, 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. 2. AR 600-8-22 (Military Awards) prescribes Army policy and criteria concerning individual military awards. Paragraph 2-8 contains the regulatory guidance pertaining to awarding the Purple Heart. It states, in order to award a Purple Heart there must be evidence that a member was wounded or injured as a result of enemy action. The wound or injury for which the Purple Heart is being awarded must have required treatment by a medical officer and this treatment must be supported by medical treatment records that were made a matter of official record. DISCUSSION: 1. By regulatory guidance, for the Purple Heart to be awarded, the preponderance of the evidence must clearly show a wound existed, that it directly resulted from hostile action, was treated, and was officially recorded at the time by medical personnel. There is no evidence of record showing the FSM sustained and/or was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action while in combat during WWII. 2. The applicant's sincerity is not in question, rather it is necessary for all elements of the award criteria for the Purple Heart to be fulfilled. //NOTHING FOLLOWS// ABCMR Record of Proceedings AR20150000953 Enclosure 1 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20170000031 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20170000031 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 2