PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           15 September 1999                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999027077

	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:

	Mr. James M. Alward		Chairperson	
	Mr. Ted S. Kanamine		Member	
	Ms. Kathleen A. Newman		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 his records be corrected to show he was awarded the Purple Heart and the Silver Star.

3.  The applicant states that the Purple Heart and Silver Star do not appear on either one of his discharges.  He provides a copy of a newspaper article showing he was awarded the Silver Star as supporting evidence.

4.  The applicant’s military records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire in 1973.  The information contained herein was obtained from his service medical records and alternate sources.

5.  The applicant was inducted into the Army on 30 September 1941.  On an unknown date he arrived in the European Theater of Operations (Italy).

6.  The newspaper article provided by the applicant states he was awarded the Silver Star for action which took place on 1 July (presumably 1944).  It goes on to state he was also awarded the Purple Heart and on 20 August received a battlefield commission.

7.  The applicant received a discharge physical examination on 19 August 1944.  All areas (eyes, hearing, general surgical conditions, organs of locomotion, etc.) were noted as “normal.”  He was commissioned from a Staff Sergeant on          20 August 1944.  His report of separation from his enlisted service is not available.

8.  The applicant’s medical records show he was wounded in action on 4 October 1944 (lacerated wound, upper lip, due to enemy mortar fire) and on 28 April 1945 (penetrating wound right leg due to enemy shell fire).  His Report of Physical Examination on 11 September 1945 notes his medical history as “burns first and second degree of lips and chin caused by shell flash in Italy…Shell fragment wound…April 1945…No other …injuries or hospitalization while on active duty.”

9.  The applicant was released from active duty on 16 October 1945.  His report of separation shows he was awarded one Purple Heart (General Orders 47, 24th General Hospital, dated 5 May 1945) and the Bronze Star Medal (General Orders 79, 91st Infantry, dated 27 June 1945).

10.  On 9 September 1999, the U. S. Total Army Personnel Command checked the available records for the 91st Infantry and II Corps (no “11” Corps could be found) and could find no record of the applicant being awarded the Silver Star.

Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides 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 by a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.  The Silver Star is awarded for gallantry in action against the enemy.  The required gallantry (spirited and conspicuous acts of heroism and courage) must have been performed with marked distinction. 

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence of record shows that the applicant was wounded in action on two separate occasions but was awarded the Purple Heart only on the last occasion.  Both of these occasions occurred after the applicant received his commission and so, even if his enlisted report of separation was available, the Purple Heart would not be entered on that document.  Despite the information in the provided newspaper article, there is no evidence of record to show he had been wounded while he was enlisted.  (The Board concludes that the lacerated wound, upper lip received on 4 October 1944 and his burns, first and second degree of lips and chin received on an unknown date were different views of the same wound.)

2.  Unfortunately, the Board cannot use the provided newspaper article as verification that the applicant was awarded the Silver Star.  An official document, i. e., orders or citation, must be provided before the award can be entered onto
his report of separation.  A search of Department of the Army records fifty years after the event have failed to locate such documents.  One of the service organizations (American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, etc.) may be able to assist the applicant in obtaining such official documentation.

3.  In view of the foregoing, it would be in the interest of justice to correct the applicant’s records as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

1.  That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by showing the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart and the Purple Heart 1st oak leaf cluster.

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

BOARD VOTE:  

__jma___  __tsk___  __kan___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

			James M. Alward
		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999027077	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	19990915	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.0007	
2.	107.0015	
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.