PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF: 

	BOARD DATE:                  13 January 2000
	DOCKET NUMBER:          AR1999028689

	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.  

	Ms. Joyce A. Wright		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Ernest M. Willcher		Chairperson	
	Mr. Ernest W. Lutz, 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 states, in effect, that he was awarded the Purple Heart on 7 April 1945; however, when discharged the award was not indicated on his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation).  In support of his application he submits a copy of his WD AGO Form 53-55 and a copy of his
WD AGO Form 106 (Request for Decoration and/or Citation). 

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 inducted on 30 March 1944 as a mail orderly.  He served in the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater of Operations from 1 March 1945 to 22 July 1945 and in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations from August 1945 to April 1946.  He was honorably discharged on 1 May 1946.

5.  The applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 shows that he was awarded the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Ribbon with one bronze service star, the Good Conduct Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Theater Campaign Medal, the 
World War II Victory Medal and the Combat Infantryman Badge.

6.  The applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award.  Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action), which was authenticated in his own hand, shows the entry “NONE”.

7.  A DA Form 1577 (Authorization for Issuance of Awards), dated 3 October 1977, show the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri, determined the applicant was entitled to the Bronze Star Medal based on award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.

8.  The applicant provided a copy of WD AGO Form 106, which shows the entry
“Gunshot wound in action, in Germany on or about the 7 Apr 1945”.

9.  The applicant’s records contain a copy of Standard Form 88 (Report of Medical Examination), which shows in item 42 (Remarks) the entry “Gunshot wound through and through with damage to Gp. III muscles” and the entry “Damage to Group III muscles residuals of G.S.W.  (Gun Shot Wound)”.

10.  The applicant’s records contain a copy of Standard Form 89 (Report of Medical History), which shows in item 21 (Have you had accidents or injuries other than those listed above) the entry “gun shot wound in chest age 20”, item 23 (Have you ever been a patient in a hospital) the entry “Army Hospital France 1945 Gun Shot Wounds in Chest” and in item 31 (Summary of History) the entry “Pain left chest & right residual of through gun shot wound”.

11.  The applicant’s records contain a copy of a Veterans Administration Memorandum, dated 4 October 1950, which shows the entry “Gunshot wound through and through with damage to Group III muscles considered as 40 percent disabling”.

12.  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 records.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Evidence of record shows the applicant received a gun shot in Germany on or about the 7 April 1945 during World War II.  Evidence of record also shows that he was granted a service-connected disability for gunshot wound through and through with damage to Group III muscles.  Therefore, he is entitled to award of the Purple Heart and correction of his records to show this award.

2.  The applicant was awarded the Bronze Star Medal based on award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.  Therefore, he is entitled to correction of his records to show the Bronze Star Medal based on award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.

3.  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 in item 33 (Decorations and Citations) of his WD AGO Form 53-55 that he was awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star Medal based on award of the Combat Infantryman Badge. 

BOARD VOTE:  

EMW____  EWL____  MVT____  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		Ernest M. Willcher____
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999028689	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20000113	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	HD	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	19460501	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR  615-365	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  60		
2.  61		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.