PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:      

	BOARD DATE:            5 October 2000                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000037252

	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:

	Ms. Shirley L. Powell		Chairperson	
	Mr. Jaime Perez		Member	
	Mr. Elzey J. Arledge, Jr.		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 and the other medals to which he is entitled as a result of his World War II service.

3.  The applicant states that his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation) shows in item 34 (wounds received in action) that he was wounded in France in 1944 but the Purple Heart is not reflected on his discharge.

4.  In support of his request, he has provided a copy of his WD AGO Form 53-55, and a copy of the Department of Veterans Affairs rating decision awarding him 20 percent disability for service connected wounds.

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 documents furnished by the applicant and from alternate sources.

6.  He was inducted on 4 December 1942 and served in the European Theater of Operations from March 1944 to September 1945 as a rifleman.  He was honorably discharged on 29 September 1945 in the grade of private first class.

7.  His awards include the Combat Infantryman Badge, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with Four Bronze Service Stars, the Good Conduct Medal, the Distinguished Unit Citation and the World War II Honorable Service Lapel Button.

8.  The applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 shows that he was wounded in France in July 1944.  The entry does not further describe the wound.  However, information from hospital admission cards created by the Office of the Surgeon General shows that the applicant was listed as a battle casualty with wounds to the buttock and hip sustained in France in July 1944.

9.  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 by a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

10.  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 for meritorious achievement in ground combat against the armed enemy between 7 December 1941 and 2 September 1945.

11.  Army Regulation 600-8-22, Military Awards, provides, in pertinent part, that the Army of Occupation Medal (Germany) was awarded for service for 30 consecutive days at a normal post of duty while assigned to the Army of Occupation of Germany (exclusive of Berlin) between 9 May 1945 and 5 May 1955.  Service between 9 May and 8 November 1945 would be counted only if the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal was awarded for service prior to 9 May 1945.

12.  The awards regulation also authorized the American Campaign Medal to be awarded 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.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence of record substantiates that the applicant was wounded as a result of hostile action in France in 1944 and is entitled to the Purple Heart.

2.  Additionally, since he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge, he is likewise entitled to the Bronze Star Medal under the revised criteria for that award mentioned above.

3.  The evidence also shows that he served in the European Theater of Operations and Germany from March 1944 to September 1945 and is, therefore, authorized the American Campaign Medal, the Army of Occupation Medal (Germany) and the World War II Victory Medal.

4.  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 France in July 1944;

	b.  showing that he is entitled to the following additional awards based on his World War II service: the Bronze Star Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the Army of Occupation Medal (Germany) and the World War II Victory Medal; and

	c.  issuing to him all of the above mentioned awards.

BOARD VOTE:  

__slp ___  ___jp ___  ____eja _  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		_________Shirley L. Powell________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000037252	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20001005	
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.