MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION

	IN THE CASE OF:       

	BOARD DATE:           23 December 1998
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AC98-12232  
				   AR1998012509

	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. Joyce A. Wright		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Raymond V. O’Connor, Jr.		Chairperson	
	Ms. Karol A. Kennedy		Member	
	Mr. Lester Echols		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 for his injury he received during his service in the European African Middle Eastern Theater of Operations.

APPLICANT STATES:  That he was injured at St. Lo and Mourtan France in 1944 and he was not awarded the Purple Heart.

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 was inducted on 4 August 1943.  He served in the European African Middle Eastern Theater of Operations from 28 May 1944 to 14 May 1945 and was honorably discharged on 23 November 1945.

The applicant states that he was injured and treated at a field hospital while in a German prison camp in 1944.  He also states that a German soldier (guard) busted his head open with his weapon and caused his injury. 

The applicant’s WD AGO 53-55 (Military Record and Report of Separation) does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award.  Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) of the applicant’s WD AGO 53-55, which was authenticated in his own
hand, shows the entry “None”.

There is no record that the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart.  There also is no indication that he was wounded as a result of 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

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.  There is no evidence of record available to the Board, and the applicant has provided no evidence, which shows he was injured or wounded during his service in the European African Middle Eastern Theater of Operations.  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

RVO____  KAK____  LE______  DENY APPLICATION

						Loren G. Harrell
						Director

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.