PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF: 

	BOARD DATE:             28 July 1999     
	DOCKET NUMBER:    AR1999016654

	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:

	Mr. Fred N. Eichorn		Chairperson	
	Ms. Lana E. McGlynn  		Member	
	Ms. Margaret V. Thompson 		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 correction of his military records to show award of the Purple Heart. 

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that he was wounded on 21 December 1944 in Zelem, Belgium.  He also contends that awards were not properly processed during World War II due to “Red Tape”.  In support of his application, he submits four eyewitness statements from soldiers he served with during World War II.  Each statement attests to the fact that the applicant was wounded by fragments of a German buzz bomb in Zelem, Belgium on 21 December 1944.  He also provides an extract from the History of Company E, 359th Engineer General Service Regiment covering the period 15 February 1943 to 8 May 1945, which describes the events surrounding his injury. 

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 that the applicant was inducted on
27 January 1943.  He served as a painter general in the European Theater of Operations from 8 July 1943 through 17 November 1945 and was separated with an honorable discharge on 7 December 1945.

5.  The applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation) does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award.  

6.  There is no evidence in the available records which show the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart or was wounded as a result of hostile action.  Item
34 (Wounds Received in Action) of the applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 states “None”.

7.  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.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The Board finds the four eyewitness statements sufficient as a basis for award of the Purple Heart.  Therefore, the applicant is entitled to correction of his military records to show award of the Purple Heart for wounds sustained on 
21 December 1944.

2.  In view of the foregoing, the applicant’s records should be corrected as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by showing that the individual concerned was awarded the Purple Heart. 

BOARD VOTE:  

FNE_____  LEM____  MVT____  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		Fred N. Eichorn_______
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999016654	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	19990728	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	19451207	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR 615-365  	
DISCHARGE REASON	Convenience of the Government	
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.0015	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.