PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF: 

	BOARD DATE:           28 October 1998           
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AC98-09170

	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. Wanda L. Waller		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. JoAnn H. Langston		Chairperson	
	Mr. Curtis W. Barbee, Jr.		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 correction of his DD Form 214 (Report of Separation from the Armed Forces of the United States) to show award of the Purple Heart with one Oak Leaf Cluster.

3.  The applicant states, in effect, he is entitled to the Purple Heart with one Oak Leaf Cluster because he was wounded on 29 January 1952 and 1 July 1952 in Korea.

4.  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 he was inducted and entered active duty on 8 January 1951.  He served as an infantryman in Korea and was honorably discharged on 7 October 1952.

5.  The applicant’s DD Form 214 shows one award of the Purple Heart.  Item
29 (Wounds Received as a Result of Action with Enemy Forces) of the DD Form 214 shows “Kumwha, N. Korea 29 Jan 52” [Kumwha, North Korea on 29 January 1952] and “Kumwha, N. Korea 1 Jul 52” [Kumwha, North Korea on 1 July 1952].

6.  DA Form 1577 (Authorization for Issuance of Awards), dated 29 December 1994, shows the Army Reserve Personnel Center in St. Louis, Missouri, determined the applicant was entitled to the first award of the Good Conduct Medal and the National Defense Service Medal.  These awards are also not shown on his DD Form 214.  

7.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the bronze oak leaf cluster is awarded to denote the second and succeeding awards of a certain decorations, among which is the Purple Heart.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Evidence of record shows the applicant was wounded on two occasions in Korea.  Therefore, he is entitled to correction of his DD Form 214 to show award of the Purple Heart with one Oak Leaf Cluster.

2.  The applicant was awarded the first award of the Good Conduct Medal and the National Defense Service Medal.

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 by showing that the individual concerned was awarded the Purple Heart with one Oak Leaf Cluster, the first award of the Good Conduct Medal and the National Defense Service Medal.

BOARD VOTE:  

JHL____  CWB____  RVO_____  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON