PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF: 

	BOARD DATE:           28 October 1998                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AC98-09920

	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 award of the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant states, based on recent legislation, he is entitled to the Purple Heart because he was a prisoner of war (POW).  In support of his application, he submits a sworn statement from a retired sergeant first class attesting to the applicant’s combat wounds and POW status in 1951.   

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 the applicant entered active duty on
3 February 1948.  He served as a light weapons infantryman in the Asiatic- Pacific Theater of Operations from 24 January 1951 through 26 August 1953 and was separated with a general (under honorable conditions) discharge on
21 October 1953.  

5.  The applicant’s TAGO Form 01254 (Transcript of Military Record), which was issued in lieu of his original discharge papers, does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award.  There is no evidence in the applicant’s personnel records that show he was injured or wounded as a result of hostile action.  Item 27 (Wounds Received in Action) of the TAGO Form 01254 states “None”.  

6.  Informal coordination with the Prisoner of War Branch of the Total Army Personnel Command revealed the applicant was a POW from 25 April 1951 through 27 August 1953.
         
7.  DA Form 1577 (Authorization for Issuance of Awards), dated 14 May 1984, shows the Army Reserve Personnel Center in St. Louis, Missouri, determined the applicant was entitled to the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Service Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge, and the United Nations Service Medal.  These awards are also not shown on the applicant’s TAGO Form 01254.

8.  During World War II and the Korean War the Purple Heart was not awarded to soldiers who had been injured while in captivity or while being taken captive.  These injuries were considered to be the result of war crimes and not the result of a legal action of war.  War Department policy, at that time, required that wounds must have been received in action against the enemy or, in other words, incurred in actual combat.  Executive Order 11016, dated 25 April 1962, provided more latitude with respect to award of the Purple Heart to prisoners of war, as well as the authority to award the decoration to wounded soldiers even in the absence of a formal declaration of war.  The issue as to whether this change in policy would be implemented retroactively to prisoners of war from World War I, World War II, and the Korean War was considered several times.  Initially it was decided that the change in policy would not be retroactively implemented.  It was concluded that it would be inappropriate for the Department of Defense to retroactively change the standards and, in effect, countermand the decisions of the post leadership.  However, as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 1996 Congress authorized award of the Purple Heart to any former prisoner of war who was wounded before 25 April 1962 while held as a prisoner or war, or while being taken captive, in the same manner as a former prisoner of war who was wounded on or after that date.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Contrary to the applicant’s belief that POW’s are entitled to the Purple Heart, the National Defense Authorization Act of 1996 only authorized award of the Purple Heart to former prisoners of war who were wounded before 25 April 1962.

2.  There is no evidence of record available to the Board which shows the applicant was wounded by hostile action, wounded while held as a POW or wounded while being taken captive.  Therefore, he is not entitled to award of the Purple Heart.

3.  The Board notes the notarized statement from a fellow soldier.  However, this statement made over 46 years after the fact is not sufficient by itself as a basis for award of the Purple Heart in view of evidence of record which shows the applicant was not wounded. 

4.  The applicant was a POW from 25 April 1951 through 27 August 1953; therefore, he is entitled to correction of his military records to show award of the POW Medal.

5.  The applicant was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Service Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge, and the United Nations Service Medal.

6.  In view of the foregoing findings and conclusions, it would be appropriate to correct the applicant’s records, but only as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

1.  That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by showing that the individual concerned was awarded the POW Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Service Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge, and the United Nations Service Medal.

2.  That so much of the application as is in excess of the foregoing be denied. 

BOARD VOTE:  

JHL_____  CWB____  RVO____  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON