PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:        

	BOARD DATE:            30 December 1998
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AC98-11885
                                              AR1998013444

	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	
	Mr. Jessie B. Strickland .		Analyst	

The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. George D. Paxson		Chairperson	
	Ms. Sherri V. Ward		Member	
	Mr. Van B. Cunningham		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 that he be awarded the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant states he was wounded/injured in France in 1944 and was never awarded the Purple Heart.

4.  The applicant’s military records were destroyed in the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri, that destroyed approximately 18 million service records.  However, limited medical records that were loaned to the VA and that were retrieved by the Board show that the applicant was inducted on 14 November 1942.

5.  His records also show that he entered active duty on 28 November 1942 and served in the European Theater of Operation from 27 June 1944 until approximately 27 November 1945.  He was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge, the World War II Victory Medal, the American Theater Ribbon, and the European African Middle Eastern Theater Ribbon with 3 bronze service stars.

6.  The limited medical records available contain information indicating that the applicant suffered a concussion from an enemy shell blast in France on 15 October 1944.  The applicant’s physical examination conducted at the time of his separation confirms his injury and indicates that he was treated at the 174th General Hospital.

7.  The applicant was honorably discharged in the rank of corporal on 3 December 1945.  He had served 3 years and 6 days of total active service.  There is no evidence to show that he was ever awarded the Purple Heart.

8.  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.

9.  That regulation also provides, in pertinent part, that the Bronze Star Medal is awarded to any person who while serving in any capacity in or with the Army of the United States after 6 December 1941, distinguishes himself by heroic or meritorious achievement or service, not involving participation in aerial flight, in connection with military operations against an armed enemy; or while engaged in military operation involving conflict with an opposed armed force in which the United States is not a beligerent party.  

10.  Subsequent to the cessation of hostilities during World War II, the regulation governing the award of the Bronze Star Medal was changed, in part, to provide for the award of this decoration to those individuals who had been awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge or the Combat Medical Badge for meritorious achievement in ground combat against the armed enemy between 7 December 1941 and 2 September 1945.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  There is sufficient evidence to show that the applicant suffered a concussion as a result of an enemy shell blast on 15 October 1944 during an enemy action in France and that he was treated by medical personnel. 

2.  Additionally, the applicant was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge and therefore was qualified to be awarded the Bronze Star Medal under the revised regulatory criteria in effect at the time. 

3.  However, through an administrative oversight, he was not awarded the Purple Heart or the Bronze Star Medal that he was entitled to receive.  Therefore, it would be in the interest of justice to correct this error at this time.

4.  In view of the foregoing, the applicant’s records should be corrected 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, while serving in the rank of corporal, was wounded in an enemy action in France on 15 October 1944 and that he was awarded the Purple Heart.

2.  That the individual concerned be awarded the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious achievement.

BOARD VOTE:  

__gp____  ___vbc __  __sw ___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		____George D. Paxson____
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AC98-11885/AR1998013444	
SUFFIX		
RECON	 	
DATE BOARDED	1998/12/30	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	 	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	 	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	 	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  107.00		
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.