PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:       

	BOARD DATE:           11 August 1999                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1998013518

	I certify that hereinafter is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in the case of the above-named individual.  

	Mr. Loren G. Harrell		Director	
	Mr. Kenneth Aucock		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. John H. Kern		Chairperson	
	Mr. Walter T. Morrison		Member	
	Mr. John P. Infante		Member	

	The applicant and counsel if any, did not appear before the Board.

	The Board considered the following evidence:

	Exhibit A - Application for correction of military 
                records
	Exhibit B - Military Personnel Records (including
	            advisory opinion, if any)

FINDINGS:

1.  The applicant has exhausted or the Board has waived the requirement for exhaustion of all administrative remedies afforded by existing law or regulations.

2.  The applicant requests award of the Purple Heart. 

3.  The applicant states that he was wounded in combat in the Philippines on    11 May 1945 as the enclosed medical records indicate.  At that time, he received the Purple Heart ribbon, but not the medal or citation. This information is also missing from his discharge document.

4.  The applicant’s military records show that he was inducted into the Army on 21 July 1943, served as a rifleman with 1 year, 5 months, and 5 days of overseas service in the Pacific Theater of Operations, and was discharged at the Hospital Center at Camp Edwards, Massachusetts on 26 November 1945.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows that he participated in three campaigns in the Pacific Theater and was awarded the Philippine Liberation Ribbon with 2 bronze service stars, and the Combat Infantryman Badge.  That form shows that he was issued a certificate of disability for discharge, and that he was wounded in action on         11 May 1945.  It does not show award of the Purple Heart.  

5.  The certificate of disability issued to him does show that he received a penetrating wound to his right arm and other parts of his body as a result of enemy high explosive shell fragments on 11 May 1945.  A clinical record shows that he was wounded by a shell in the right arm severing nerves and muscles on that date.  Another clinical record shows that he was wounded in action by a 20mm shell in the Philippines

6.  VA documents that the applicant submits with his application show that he was receiving service connected disability for residuals of a gunshot wound.  

7.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that World War II holders of the Combat Infantryman Badge are entitled to an award of the Bronze Star Medal.  That regulation provides for award of the World War II Victory Medal for service between 7 December 1941 and 31 December 1946.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant is entitled to award of the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal.  Those awards should be reflected in his service records.    

2.  In view of the foregoing, the applicant’s records should be corrected as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by showing that the individual concerned was awarded the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star Medal and the World War II Victory Medal. 

BOARD VOTE:  

__jhk___  ___wtm__  __jpi___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1998013518	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	19990811	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1. 107.00		
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.