PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:   

	BOARD DATE:       25 November 1998       
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AC98-11922

	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 award of the Purple Heart.  He notes he was wounded during World War II but never received the award.

3.  Although the applicant’s military personnel records were likely destroyed during the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, information reconstructed from alternative sources indicates the applicant entered active duty on 31 May 1943 and served 19 months overseas with the 43rd Division, 169th Infantry Regiment as an infantryman.  As a result of his combat duties he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge.

4.  On 8 February 1945 the applicant sustained bilateral perforated ear drums as a result of a blast concussion from an enemy shell.  His injury was confirmed in a clinical record brief and a Western Union Telegram notifying his parents that their son had been “slightly wounded in action.”

5.  The applicant returned to the United States and was released from active duty on 24 October 1945.  While his WD AGO Form 100 (separation qualification record) notes he “received the Order of the Purple Heart for being wounded in the Battle of Luzon” there are no official documents (i.e. orders or certificate) confirming the award.

6.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for wounds 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 by a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

7.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 also provides, in pertinent part, that the Bronze Star Medal is awarded for heroism and for meritorious achievement or service in military operations against an armed enemy.  The Bronze Star Medal is authorized for each individual who was cited in orders or awarded a certificate for exemplary conduct in ground combat between 7 December 1941 and 
2 September 1945 or whose such achievement or service, during that period, was confirmed by documents executed prior to 1 July 1947.  An award of the Combat Infantryman Badge or the Combat Medical Badge is considered to be a citation in orders.  This means, in effect, that the Bronze Star Medal is to be awarded to individuals who were authorized either badge for service during World War II.  Awards of the Bronze Star Medal under these conditions is commonly referred to as a conversion award.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence confirms the applicant was wounded as a result of hostile action on 8 February 1945 and as such is entitled to award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The evidence also confirms the applicant was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge during World War II and as such is entitled an award of the Bronze Star Medal as a conversion award.

3.  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:

	a.  by awarding the individual concerned the Purple Heart for wounds sustained on 8 February 1945 as a result of hostile action; and

	b.  by awarding him the Bronze Star Medal as a conversion award based on his Combat Infantryman Badge.

BOARD VOTE:  

__JEV___  _JNS___  _RVO___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON