MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION

	IN THE CASE OF: 

	BOARD DATE:           4 November 1998                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AC98-09975

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

	Mr. Loren G. Harrell		Director	
	Ms. Wanda L. Waller		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. James E. Vick		Chairperson	
	Mr. Luther L. Santiful		Member	
	Mr. Thomas N. Kuhn		Member	

	The Board, established pursuant to authority contained in 10 U.S.C. 1552, convened at the call of the Chairperson on the above date.  In accordance with Army Regulation 15-185, the application and the available military records pertinent to the corrective action requested were reviewed to determine whether to authorize a formal hearing, recommend that the records be corrected without a formal hearing, or to deny the application without a formal hearing if it is determined that insufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the existence of probable material error or injustice.

	The applicant requests correction of military records as stated in the application to the Board and as restated herein.

	The Board considered the following evidence:

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

APPLICANT REQUESTS:  Award of the Purple Heart.  

APPLICANT STATES:  That he was wounded by shrapnel in the right leg in June 1953 at the Iron Triangle in North Korea.  In support of his application, he submits a copy of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals letter, dated 13 June 1996, which grants him service connection for residuals of a shrapnel wound of the right leg.  

EVIDENCE OF RECORD:  The applicant's military records show:

The applicant’s military records were destroyed or lost during the National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973.  Records available to the Board were obtained from alternate sources and show that the applicant enlisted on
7 November 1952, served as an infantryman in Korea and was separated with an honorable discharge on 19 August 1954.  The applicant’s DD Form 214 (Report of Separation from the Armed Forces of the United States) does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award. 

There is no evidence in the applicant’s records that show he was awarded the Purple Heart or was wounded as a result of hostile action.  Item 29 (Wounds Received as a Result of Action with Enemy Forces) of the applicant’s DD Form 214, which was authenticated in his own hand, states “NONE”.

The Board of Veterans’ Appeals letter, dated 13 June 1996, indicates the applicant’s service medical records contain no evidence of a wound due to hostile action.  

Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, 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.

DISCUSSION:  Considering all the evidence, allegations, and information presented by the applicant, together with the evidence of record, applicable law and regulations, it is concluded:

1.  Notwithstanding the letter submitted by the applicant, there is no evidence that he was wounded or treated for wounds due to hostile action in Korea.  Therefore, he is not entitled to award of the Purple Heart.   

2.  In order to justify correction of a military record the applicant must show to the satisfaction of the Board, or it must otherwise satisfactorily appear, that the record is in error or unjust.  The applicant has failed to submit evidence that would satisfy the aforementioned requirement.

3.  In view of the foregoing, there is no basis for granting the applicant's request.

DETERMINATION:  The applicant has failed to submit sufficient relevant evidence to demonstrate the existence of probable error or injustice.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

JEV_____  LLS____  TNK_____  DENY APPLICATION

						Loren G. Harrell
						Director