APPLICANT REQUESTS:  That he be awarded the Purple Heart.

APPLICANT STATES:  That he was never awarded the Purple Heart for gunshot wounds to the abdominal region he incurred on 12 May 1945.

EVIDENCE OF RECORD:  The applicant’s military records show:

He was inducted into the Army on 20 November 1942 and entered active service on 28 November 1942.  He arrived in the European Theater on 29 October 1944 where he served as a litter bearer.  

On 12 May 1945, the applicant received a gunshot wound to the abdomen when a fellow soldier accidentally discharged a captured pistol.  He received a medical discharge on 12 October 1945.

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 by a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been 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.  Evidence in the applicant’s records show he was wounded as a result of an accident, not as a result of hostile action.

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

                       DENY APPLICATION

						Loren G. Harrell
						Director