PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF: 

	BOARD DATE:                 5 August 1999
	DOCKET NUMBER:        AR1999020035

	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. Mark D. Manning		Chairperson	
	Mr. Arthur A. Omartian		Member	
	Mr. Ernest W. Lutz, Jr.		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, in effect, that his DD Form 214 (Report of Separation from the Armed Forces of the United States) be corrected to show that he was awarded the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that he was wounded in action in early 1951.  In support of his application he submits a copy of his Standard Form 88 (Report of Medical Examination), copy of VA Form 8-564 (VA Rating Sheet), copy of Standard Form 519 (Radiographic Reports) and several copies of his WD AGO Form 1 (Morning Report).

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 entered active duty on 3 August 1959.  He served in the Korea and was honorably discharged on 18 September 1952.

5.  The applicant’s DD Form 214 shows he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Distinguished Unit Emblem and the Korean Service Medal with five bronze service stars.  His discharge document does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award.  

6.  Item 29 (Wounds Received as a Result of Action with Enemy Forces) of the applicant’s DD Form 214, which was authenticated in his own hand, shows the entry “NONE”.  There is no record that the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart.  There also is no indication that he was wounded as a result of hostile action.

7.  The VA Rating Sheet dated 26 May 1953, shows that he was granted 
10 percent disability for a service-connection for back wound and malaria.  That rating decision indicated that actual records of treatment for the shrapnel wound of the back as alleged by the veteran, had not been received.  It also indicated that while under treatment, however, for malaria from 29 October 1951 to 5 November 1951, evidence of the back wound was recorded through chest
X-ray, which revealed a metallic foreign body, exact location, not determined.

8.  The Radiographic Report submitted by the applicant shows the entry “Metallic foreign body, left mid lung field”.  “Exact location not determinant on this film”.

9.  A DA Form 1577 (Authorization for Issuance of Awards), dated 22 August 1996, shows the Army Reserve Center in St. Louis, Missouri, determined the applicant was entitled to the Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Korean Service Medal with one silver service star and the United Nations Service Medal.

10.  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.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  There is no evidence of record which shows the applicant was wounded 
due to hostile action while serving in Korea.  Therefore, he is not entitled to the award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant was awarded the Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, Korean Service Medal with one silver service star and the United Nations Service Medal.  Therefore, he is entitled to correction of his records to show these awards.

3.  In view of the foregoing findings and conclusions, it would be appropriate to correct the applicant’s records, but only as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

1.  That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by showing in item 27 (Decorations and Awards) of his DD Form 214 
that he was awarded the Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Service Medal with one silver service star and the United Nations Service Medal.

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

BOARD VOTE:  

MDM____  AAO____  EWL____  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		Mark D. Manning_______
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999020035	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	19990805	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	HD	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	19520918	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR  615-360	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  61		
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.