PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:         2 December 1998                     
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AC98-08592

	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. Raymond V. O’Connor, Jr.		Chairperson	
	Mr. George D. Paxson		Member	
	Mr. John H. Kern		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 that his father, a deceased former serviceman (FSM) be awarded the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant states that his father was wounded and in the hospital for        10 days (during the Battle of the Bulge) and never received the Purple Heart.  His father died in January 1985; however, his death was not war related.  His records were lost.  He had shrapnel in the back of his head, and also had a bullet wound.

4.	The military records of the FSM were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973.  Information herein was obtained from reconstructed personnel records.                                                                             
5.	The FSM was inducted into the Army on 12 January 1943, and served in the European Theater of Operations during World War II.

6.  The FSM arrived in Europe in August 1944, served in three campaigns, and was favorably considered for award of the Good Conduct Medal.  He was assigned to Battery A of the 231st AAA Battalion from 22 August 1944 to            23 February 1945.  That unit did not participate in the Battle of the Bulge (Ardennes-Alsace), which took place from 16 December 1944 to                        25 January 1945.  Item 24 (wounds, hospitalization, etc.) of an affidavit completed by the FSM, contains no entry concerning any wounds received by the FSM, nor any information that he was hospitalized during his service.    

7.  The FSM was honorably discharged on 9 July 1946 in Heidelberg, Germany.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 (Honorable Discharge) does not show award of the Purple Heart.  Under item 34 of that form, “Wounds Received in Action”, the word, “None” is entered.  The form shows that he participated in one campaign during the war.  It does not show award of the Good Conduct Medal.

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained as a result of hostile action. Substantiating evidence must be provided to verify that the wound was the result of hostile action, the wound must have required treatment, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  There is no evidence of record that the FSM was wounded in action during the war.  The evidence exists, in fact, as the FSM had attested, that he did not sustain any wounds during the war.  Therefore, the FSM is not entitled to award of the Purple Heart.  

2.  The FSM served honorably and faithfully during the war and was favorably considered for award of the Good Conduct Medal.  He is entitled to that award.
3.  The FSM served in three campaigns during World War II.  He is entitled to award of the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with three bronze service stars, one for each campaign.

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

RECOMMENDATION:

1.  That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by showing that the FSM was awarded the Good Conduct Medal and the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with three bronze service stars.  

2.  That so much of the application as is in excess of the foregoing be denied 

BOARD VOTE:  

___rvo__  __gdp___  ____jhk_  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

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