PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:        

	BOARD DATE:             31 August 2000                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:    AR2000035356

	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. Carl W. S. Chun		Director	
	Mr. W. E. Schnupp		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Samuel A. Crumpler		Chairperson	
	Ms. Barbara J. Ellis		Member	
	Mr. Joe R. Schroeder		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 item 34 (wounds received in action) of his Enlisted Record and Report of Separation (WD AGO Form 53-55) should show that he was wounded in action and item 33 (decorations and citations) should show that he was awarded the Purple Heart.

4.  In support of his request, he has provided a copy of his WD AGO Form 53-55, a copy of the Veterans Administration (VA) letter awarding him disability pension for a gunshot wound and psychoneurosis and a copy of a local publication entitled The Men and Women in WWII from Bell County (Texas), showing that he was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds suffered in Germany in 1945.

5.  The applicant’s military records were lost or destroyed in the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center.  Information herein was derived from alternate sources and documents provided by the applicant.

6.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows that he was inducted on 23 August 1944 and served in the European Theater of Operations from January 1945 to April 1945.  He was honorably discharged with a Certificate of Disability Discharge on           1 August 1945 in the grade of private.

7.  His awards include the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Marksmanship Badge with Rifle Bar and the World War II Honorable Service Lapel Button.

8.  Item 33 of his WD AGO Form does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award; nor, does item 34 show that he suffered any wounds in action.

9.  The VA Award of Pension letter, dated 13 August 1945 shows that the applicant was awarded a pension effective 2 August 1945 due to disability resulting from conditions held to have been incurred or aggravated during war service: psychoneurosis; gunshot wound, group XIV, anterior thigh group left.

10.  The page extracted from The Men and Women in WWII from Bell County, states that he was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds suffered in Germany in 1945, and contains a picture of the applicant.  The title and authenticity of this document is attested to only by the applicant himself.

11.  Information obtained from the Hospital Admission Cards created by the 

Office of the Surgeon General (OTSG) for the years 1942 through 1945 shows that on 28 February 1945 the applicant was listed as a battle casualty as a result of rifle bullet wounds to the thigh.  

12.  Army Regulation 600-8-22, Military Awards, authorized the American Campaign Medal for service in the American Theater between 7 December 1941 and 2 March 1946; and, the World War II Victory Medal for service between        7 December 1941 and 31 December 1946.

13.  Subsequent to the cessation of hostilities during World War II, the regulation governing the award of the Bronze Star Medal was changed, in part, to provide for the award of this decoration to those individuals who had been awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge or the Combat Medical Badge for meritorious achievement in ground combat against the armed enemy between 7 December 1941 and 2 September 1945.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence of record substantiates the applicant’s statement that he is entitled to the Purple Heart.  The OTSG’s data reflects that he was wounded as a result of enemy action on 28 February 1945 and is entitled to the Purple Heart for that wound.

2.  Also, based on his having been awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge during World War II, he is entitled to the Bronze Star Medal.  Additionally, considering his period of service in the European Theater of Operations he is entitled to the American Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal.

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:

	a.  showing that the individual concerned was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received in action in Europe on 28 February 1945;

	b.  showing that he was also awarded the Bronze Star Medal, the American Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal; and

	c.  issuing a correction to his separation document reflecting the above mentioned awards.

BOARD VOTE:  

___sac__  ____bje _  ___jrs __  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		__________Samuel A. Crumpler_____
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000035356	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20000831	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT PLUS)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  107.00		
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.