MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION

	IN THE CASE OF: 

	BOARD DATE:           2 December 1998                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AC98-09861

	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. Lee Cates		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Raymond V. O’Connor, Jr.		Chairperson	
	Mr. George D. Paxson		Member	
	Mr. John H. Kern		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:  His records be corrected to show his state of birth as Indiana.  Further, he requests his records reflect two awards of the Purple Heart.

APPLICANT STATES:  He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal.  He also claims he is entitled to award of the Purple Heart for a “broken ankle” and “busted teeth”.

EVIDENCE OF RECORD:  The applicant's military records were destroyed or lost in the National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973.  Records available to the Board were obtained from alternate sources and show that he was inducted of 17 November 1941.  He served in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations from 7 April 1942 to 12 May 1945.  He was honorably discharged on 6 July 1945.

The applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation - Honorable Discharge), dated 6 July 1945, which is signed in his own hand, does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award.  The applicant indicated, in correspondence to the National Personnel Records Center, dated 21 September 1984, that he suffered a broken right ankle and tore up ligaments and blood vessels on the Island of Maui, Territory of Hawaii.  He indicates this happened while stringing barbed wire in case Midway fell and that this injury has plagued him all his life, after the fall.  He relates that an injury occurred to his mouth and teeth, about February 1945, while battling in the Clark Field area.  Additionally, there is no evidence that the applicant’s home of record was East Chicago, Indiana. 

Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) 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 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.  There is no evidence showing the applicant’s state of birth as Indiana.

2.  There is no evidence of record that the applicant met the requirements for award of the Purple Heart.  Information provided by the applicant clearly shows he was not wounded in action by a hostile force.

3.  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.

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

RVO____  GDP____  JHK_____  DENY APPLICATION

						Loren G. Harrell
						       Director