PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF: 

	BOARD DATE:                 21 July 1999
	DOCKET NUMBER:        AR1999018300

	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. Joyce A. Wright		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Curtis W. Barbee		Chairperson	
	Mr. James M. Alward		Member	
	Mr. Robert G. Hinkle		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 WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation) to show that he was awarded the Purple Heart and to show that Battery “B”, 589th Field Artillery Battalion, 106th Infantry Division as his last unit of assignment instead of Battery “C”, 10th Field Artillery Battalion.

3.  The applicant states that he received the Purple Heart for wounds he received from a German tank shell as it hit the building.  

4.  The applicant’s military records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973.  Records available to the Board were obtained from alternate sources and show he was inducted on 9 March 1943 as a truck driver.  He served in the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater of Operations from 17 November 1944 to on or about 3 July 1945 and was honorably discharged on 17 November 1945.

5.  The applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award.  However, the applicant’s records show that he received a shrapnel wound to his right forearm on December 1944 in the vicinity of St. Vith, Belgium.  His records also contain a letter dated 1 November 1945, which shows that the Secretary of War directed that the Purple Heart be awarded to him.

6.  The applicant’s records show that the applicant was assigned to Battery ”B”, 589th Field Artillery Battalion, 106th Infantry Division during World War II. However, his WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he was assigned to Battery “C”, 
10th Field Artillery Battalion at the time of his discharge from the Army.

7.  A DA Form 1577 (Authorization for Issuance of Awards), dated 16 June 1989, shows the Army Reserve Center in St. Louis, Missouri, determined the applicant was entitled to the Prisoner of War Medal.

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 the result of hostile action, the wound must have required treatment, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

9.  Based on regulation, in effect at the time, the applicant’s unit of assignment at the time of his separation from the service was entered in Item 6 (Organization) of the WD AGO Form 53-55.  The unit shown in item 6 was not necessarily the same unit with which the applicant served during World War II.  If the service member was transferred to a unit at a separation center for the purpose of discharge processing, the unit shown in item 6 was, therefore, the unit from which the soldier was separated and is an important entry because it assists in the search for a soldier’s military records.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Evidence of record shows that the applicant was wounded as a result of hostile action during World War II on 22 December 1944.  Therefore, he is entitled to correction of his records to show the Purple Heart.

2.  Evidence of record confirms the applicant was assigned to Battery “B”, 589th Field Artillery Battalion during his service in the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater.  However, at the time of separation from the Army, his unit was Battery “C”, 10th Field Artillery Battalion as shown on his WD AGO Form 53-55.  Thus, item 6 of his WD AGO Form 53-55 is correct as currently constituted.

3.  The applicant is entitled to the Prisoner of War Medal.  Therefore, he is entitled to correction of his records to show this award.

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 in item 33 (Decorations and Citations) of the WD AGO Form 53-55 of the individual concerned that he was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds sustained on 22 December 1944 and the Prisoner of War Medal.

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

BOARD VOTE:  

CWB___  JMA_____  RGH____  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		Curtis W. Barbee______
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999018300	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	1990721	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	HD	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	19461127	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1 61		
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.