PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           16 March 2000                    
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000035470

	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. Gerald E. Vandenberg		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. Jennifer L. Prater		Chairperson	
	Mr. Orville W. Troesch, Jr.		Member	
	Mr. Christopher J. Prosser		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 reconsideration of his application to correct his records to show award of the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that the documentation that afforded him his VA award of service connection for a wound to his leg collaborates his statements of entitlement to the Purple Heart 

4.  The Memorandum of Consideration reflecting the Board’s 29 April 1998 review of the applicant’s request is incorporated herein by reference as if wholly set forth.

5.  The applicant submits a VA document that notes a service medical record of treatment for an incision and drainage of an abscess, an x-ray finding showing retained metal fragments and a statement from a fellow soldier attesting to the fact that both he and the applicant were wounded as a result of hostile action in April 1967.  This document was not available to the Board previously and constitutes new evidence that requires Board review.

6.  Army Regulation 600-8-22, provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained while in action against the enemy or as a result of hostile action.  AR 672-5-1, paragraph 2-15.1, provides, in pertinent part, that the wound must have required treatment by a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record. 

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The statements of individuals are inadequate as the sole basis for an award of the Purple Heart because they do not fulfill the regulatory requirement that there is a record of medical treatment.  However, they are normally accepted as a substantiation of the combat or the enemy origin of a wound for which there is a record of treatment.

2.  The applicant has a military medical record of treatment for a condition consistent with a shrapnel injury.  This record of treatment, the x-ray finding of retained metal fragments at the site of the wound and the personal statement from other soldier as to the nature of the injury, combine to indicate that the applicant was wounded as a result of enemy action.  

3.  In view of the foregoing findings and conclusions, correcting the applicant’s records as recommended below would rectify an injustice.

RECOMMENDATION:

That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by showing that the individual concerned was awarded the Purple Heart for a shrapnel wound sustained in April 1967. 

BOARD VOTE:  

___JLP__  ___OWT_ ___CJP_  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		_     Jennifer L. Prater________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000035470	
SUFFIX		
RECON	 	
DATE BOARDED	20000316 	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	GD	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	 	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.0015	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.