MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION

	IN THE CASE OF:        

	BOARD DATE:            28 January 1999 
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1998014352

	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	
	Mr. Jessie B. Strickland		Analyst	

The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Luther L. Santiful		Chairperson	
	Mr. Robert W. Garrett		Member	
	Mr. Curtis L. Greenway		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:  That he be awarded the Purple Heart.

APPLICANT STATES:  That he was injured on 4 March 1945 while he was riding in the back of a truck in a convoy moving into Belgium when the driver fell asleep, ran off the road, and turned the truck over.  He goes on to state that he was seriously injured and was unconscious for 11 days in a hospital.  He continues by stating that he was transferred from hospital in France and England and was eventually put on a hospital ship and returned to a hospital in New Jersey for 3 months.  He also states that he suffered a lot and many times wished he were dead and he believes that he deserves the Purple Heart because it was in the line of duty and is documented in his medical records.

EVIDENCE OF RECORD:  The applicant's military records were destroyed in the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri which destroyed approximately 18 million records.  However, information obtained from alternate sources show:

The applicant was inducted in Syracuse, New York on 12 November 1942 and he served until he was honorably discharged on 6 December 1945 in the rank of private first class.

On 4 March 1945, while assigned to Charlie battery, 656th Field Artillery Battalion, the applicant, while riding in the back of a wire truck in a convoy, was seriously injured and suffered a cerebral concussion when the truck ran off the road near Dinant, Denmark.  He was evacuated to a hospital in Huy, Belgium and subsequently to another hospital for further treatment.  On 19 April 1945 a board of medical officers determined that the applicant’s injuries were in the line of duty and that he was unfit for further service in the European Theater of Operations.  Consequently, he was medically evacuated to a hospital in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

In October 1949, the applicant requested through the County Veterans Service Agency in Syracuse, New York, that he be awarded the Purple Heart for his injuries.  The request was forwarded to the awards branch in the Pentagon on 3 October 1949.

The Department responded to his request on 10 November 1949 explaining that the applicant’s request was not favorably considered because the applicant’s injuries were the result of being in a convoy accident.  It further explained that accidental injuries received in a combat zone, not directly attributable to an act of the enemy, are not “wounds received in action” within the meaning of the regulations governing the award of the Purple Heart.

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 a result of hostile action, that the wound must have required treatment by a medical officer, and that the medical treatment was 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.  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.

2.  The evidence of record fails to clearly show that the applicant was wounded/injured as a result of enemy action.  While the evidence shows that his wounds/injuries were treated by medical personnel and made a matter of official record, by his own admission, he admits that he was injured in an accident when the driver of the vehicle in which he was a passenger went to sleep and wrecked the vehicle. 

3.  While the Board notes that the applicant’s injuries were deemed to be in the line of duty, in order to be awarded the Purple Heart, the accident would have had to be the resultant cause of action by the enemy.  Such was not the case with the applicant’s injuries.  Therefore, he is not entitled to be awarded the Purple Heart for his injuries.

4.  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

___rwg __  ___ls ___  __clg____  DENY APPLICATION

						Loren G. Harrell
						Director

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1998014352	
SUFFIX		
RECON	 	
DATE BOARDED	1999/01/28	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	 	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	 	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	 	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	DENY	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  107.0015		
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.