PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:   

	BOARD DATE:           9 December 1998                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AC98-12198

	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	
	Mrs. Nancy Amos		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. June Hajjar		Chairperson	
	Mr. Fred N. Eichorn		Member	
	Mr. Thomas B. Redfern, III		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 for sustaining a hearing loss injury due to a landmine explosion on 5 February 1945.

3.	The applicant states, in previous correspondence, that he was on detached service with a unit that was sent to evaluate the possibility of salvaging a downed airplane.  His vehicle hit a landmine at a crossroads in the woods through which he was driving.  They were in a minefield and they were rescued but he suffered a ruptured eardrum from the explosion.

4.  The applicant’s records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire in 1973.  Information contained herein was obtained from reconstructed records.

5.  The applicant’s military records show that he enlisted on 26 December 1941.  He arrived in the European Theater on 2 October 1942, was assigned to the 918th Air Engineer Squadron, and departed the Theater on 1 October 1945.  He was honorably separated on 16 October 1945.

6.  The applicant’s report of physical examination shows he had defective hearing in his left ear at the time he separated.  No details are listed as to how or when it occurred.

7.  The applicant submitted a Veteran’s Application for Pension or Compensation on or about 6 November 1945.  On the form he claimed defective hearing in his left ear, occurring February 1945 and that he was treated by the 340th Service Squadron Dispensary in February 1945.

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.  A physical lesion is not required, but 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.  Individuals wounded as a result of “friendly fire” will be awarded the Purple Heart as long as the “friendly” projectile or agent was released with the full intent of inflicting damage or destroying enemy troops or equipment.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  There is no clear-cut evidence that the applicant meets the eligibility requirements for award of the Purple Heart.

2.	Evidence of record shows that the applicant separated with defective hearing loss in the left ear that was incurred while in military service.  Near contemporary evidence, although self-generated, indicates he was treated by unit medical personnel for his hearing loss.  The Board believes that it is probable that he was treated by unit medical personnel and the squadron dispensary did not keep or lost the record of treatment.

3.  He did serve as an airplane sheet metal worker; however, VA documentation from several time periods show he had normal hearing in his right ear.  This would tend to indicate that the hearing loss in his left ear was the result of a traumatic injury rather than normal job-related hearing loss.

4.  It was never determined if the minefield was sowed by the enemy or by friendly forces; however, if it had been sowed by friendly forces, it would have been for the purpose of inflicting damage or destroying enemy troops or equipment.  The Board feels that any question as to whether it was a “friendly” or “enemy” minefield is thus immaterial.

5.  In view of the foregoing and notwithstanding the lack of clear-cut evidence, it would be in the interest of justice to correct the applicant’s records as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by showing the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart for injuries received on  5 February 1945.

BOARD VOTE:  

JH_____  FNE_____  TBR_____  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AC98-12198	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	19981209	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.00	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.