PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:        25 November 1998     
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AC98-11882

	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	
	Ms. Deborah L. Brantley		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. James E. Vick		Chairperson	
	Mr. John N. Slone		Member	
	Mr. Raymond V. O’Connor, Jr.		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 the records of her grandfather, a deceased former servicemember, be corrected to reflect award of the Purple Heart.

3.  Records available to the Board indicate the former servicemember entered active duty on 15 July 1917.  His service medical records confirm he was wounded in battle on 14 October 1918.  He was released from active duty on 
28 April 1919.  There is no evidence he was ever awarded the Purple Heart.

4.  The Purple Heart was established by 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 3 in 1932.  It is awarded to any member of the armed forces who, after 5 April 1917, has been wounded or killed as a result hostile action in an action against an enemy of the United States.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence confirms that the former servicemember was wounded as a result of hostile action on 14 October 1918 and as such is entitled to award of the Purple Heart.

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 awarding the individual concerned the Purple Heart for wounds sustained on 14 October 1918 as a result of hostile action during World War I.

BOARD VOTE:  

__jev__  __jns_____  __rvo___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON