PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           22 September 1999                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999020164

	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. Margaret K. Patterson		Chairperson	
	Mr. Curtis L. Greenway		Member	
	Mr. John P. Infante		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 while making a parachute landing during Operation Just Cause, enemy ground fire directed at his parachute caused it to collapse.  As a result, he landed on barbed wire and twisted his knee.  He later required knee reconstruction.  This injury further resulted in his medical discharge.  At the time he told his first sergeant he did not want the Purple Heart, since he was capable of walking and finishing the mission.  Ten years later he has decided that he truly did deserve the right to wear the Purple Heart.

4.  The applicant’s military records show that he enlisted in the Army on 8 March 1989.  He completed basic training and advanced individual training and was awarded military occupational specialty 11B (Infantryman).  He then completed the Basic Airborne Course and was assigned to Company B, 3/75th Rangers, Fort Benning, GA.

5.  The applicant and his unit deployed to Panama for Operation Just Cause on or about 20 December 1989, where he and most members of his company earned the Combat Infantryman Badge.  He injured his knee in a parachute landing fall on 22 December 1989.  He received treatment for his injury upon his return to Fort Benning, GA.  

6.  The applicant underwent surgery for his knee injury but in May 1991 a Physical Evaluation Board (PEB) found him unfit by reason of a moderate instability in his knee and recommended his separation with severance pay with a 20 percent disability rating.  

7.  On 18 June 1991, the applicant was discharged by reason of a physical disability with severance pay.

8.  In August 1991, the PEB’s findings were revised to find that his physical disability was a direct result of armed conflict.  In October 1991, the Total Army Personnel Command directed his discharge, noting his disability did result from a combat-related injury.  (This message was rescinded in November 1991 since the applicant had already been discharged.)

9.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides policy and criteria concerning individual military decorations.  In pertinent part, it states that the Purple Heart is awarded to any member of an Armed Force who has been wounded or killed in any action against an enemy of the United States.  The wound must have required treatment by a medical officer and records of medical treatment for wounds or injuries received in action must have been made a matter of official record.  When contemplating an award of the Purple Heart, the key issue that commanders must take into consideration is the degree to which the enemy caused the injury.  The fact that the proposed recipient was participating in direct or indirect combat operations is a necessary prerequisite, but is not sole justification for award.  It is not intended that such a strict interpretation of the requirement for the wound or injury to be caused by direct result of hostile action be taken that it would preclude the award being made to deserving personnel.  Commanders must also take into consideration the circumstances surrounding an injury, an example being an individual injured while making a parachute landing from an aircraft that had been brought down by enemy fire.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The Board has considered the applicant’s statement of the circumstances surrounding the parachute fall that caused his injury and the PEB’s determination that his disability was a direct result of armed conflict and concludes there is sufficient evidence to show his injury was the result of enemy action.  Therefore, he is entitled to award of the Purple Heart.  

2.  In view of the foregoing, 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.

BOARD VOTE:  

__mkp___  __clg___  __jpi___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		Margaret K. Patterson
		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999020164	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	19990922	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.0015	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.