PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:     

	BOARD DATE:           6 December 2001                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2001061415

	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. Carl W. S. Chun		                      Director	
	Mr. Edmund P. Mercanti		                      Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Fred N. Eichorn		Chairperson	
	Mr. Thomas A. Pagan		Member	
	Mr. Harry B. Oberg		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 that he was given the Purple Heart in Paris, France.  He had requested his WD AGO Form 53-55, Enlisted Record and Report of Separation Honorable Discharge, be corrected to add the Purple Heart after his discharge by completing a WD AGO Form 106, Request for Decoration and/or Citation.  However, he never received a reply to that request.

4.  The applicant’s military records show that he was inducted on active duty on 9 February 1943, was awarded the military occupational specialty of scout, and was promoted to private first class.  He arrived in the European Theater on 14 January 1945 and departed the European Theater enroute to the continental United States on 10 February 1946.  He was honorably discharged on 20 March 1946 due to dependency.  

5.  The WD AGO Form 53-55 he was issued shows that he was awarded the European-African-Middle Eastern Service Medal with 2 bronze service stars, the World War II Victory Medal, and the Good Conduct Medal.  Item 34 of that form, Wounds Received In Action, has “Germany 9 Apr 45” entered.

6.  A health record research project, commonly referred to as the "SGO Files", involved transposing the hospital admission card data from the periods of World War II and the Korean conflict onto magnetic tape.  Searches of these files show that the applicant was admitted to the hospital on 9 April 1945 as a “Battle casualty” and treated for artillery shell fragment wounds to his buttock.

7.  Also submitted by the applicant is his Award of Disability Compensation or Pension from the Veterans Administration, dated 12 April 1946, which notified him that he was awarded a disability pension for gunshot wound scars to his right buttock.

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for wounds 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 by a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  It is evident that the applicant was wounded in action and is entitled to the Purple Heart.  Department of the Army records show that he received medical treatment for artillery shell fragment wounds he sustained while serving in the European Theater during WWII, and during his admission to the medical treatment facility he was classified as a battle casualty.

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 for wounds he sustained on 9 April 1945.

BOARD VOTE:  

__fne____  ___tap _  _____rr_  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		_________Fred N. Eichorn___
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2001061415	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	YYYYMMDD	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.00	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.