PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF: 

	BOARD DATE:           20 May 1999     
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999025722

	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. Ernest M. Willcher		Chairperson	
	Mr. Hubert O. Fry, Jr.		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 award of the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant submitted two DD Forms 149 and states, in effect, that he should have been awarded the Purple Heart for a perforated eardrum he sustained from German shelling in the Battle of the Bulge prior to his capture.  He contends he spent 7 months in the hospital after he was liberated. 

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 he was inducted on 20 March 1944.  He served as a rifleman in the European Theater of Operations from 11 October 1944 to 28 June 1945 and was honorably discharged on 24 January 1946.

5.  The applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation), which was authenticated in his own hand, does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award.  Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) of the WD AGO Form 53-55 shows “none”.  There is no evidence in his records that shows he was awarded the Purple Heart or was wounded as a result of hostile action.

6.  Available records contain Hospital Admission and Disposition Reports, dated 8 April 1945 and 4 May 1945, which show the applicant was hospitalized for Chronic Otitis Media (inflammation of the inner ear) and Malnutrition.  A Morning Report, dated 21 October 1945, shows the applicant was authorized a sick furlough for 60 days at the Ashford General Hospital, West Virginia.  There is no evidence that these conditions were the result of hostile action.

7.  DA Forms 1577 (Authorization for Issuance of Awards), dated 3 November 1988 and 27 July 1995, show the applicant was entitled to the Prisoner of War Medal, the Bronze Star Medal (based on award of the Combat Infantryman Badge), the Good Conduct Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with three bronze service stars, the World War II Victory Medal, the Army of Occupation Medal with Germany Clasp, the Combat Infantryman Badge, and the Honorable Service Lapel Button (WWII).  These awards are not shown on his WD AGO Form 53-55.

8.  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.  Medical evidence of record shows the applicant was hospitalized for otitis media (chronic) and malnutrition.  There is no evidence of record available to the Board, and the applicant has provided no evidence, which shows he was wounded or treated for wounds sustained by hostile action.  Therefore, he is not entitled to award of the Purple Heart. 

2.  The applicant was awarded the Prisoner of War Medal, the Bronze Star Medal (based on award of the Combat Infantryman Badge), the Good Conduct Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with three bronze service stars, the World War II Victory Medal, the Army of Occupation Medal with Germany Clasp, the Combat Infantryman Badge, and the Honorable Service Lapel Button (WWII).  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 that the individual concerned was awarded the Prisoner of War Medal, the Bronze Star Medal (based on award of the Combat Infantryman Badge), the Good Conduct Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with three bronze service stars, the World War II Victory Medal, the Army of Occupation Medal with Germany Clasp, the Combat Infantryman Badge, and the Honorable Service Lapel Button (WWII).

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

BOARD VOTE:  

EMW____  HOF____  MVT____  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		Ernest M. Willcher____
		CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999025722	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	19990520	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	19460124	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR 615-365  	
DISCHARGE REASON	CONVENIENCE OF THE GOVERNMENT	
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.