PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE 

	BOARD DATE:            8 June 2000       
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000038336

	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	
	Ms. Deborah L. Brantley		Senior Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. Shirley L. Powell		Chairperson	
	Ms. Lana E. McGlynn		Member	
	Mr. Arthur A. Omartian		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, in effect, award of the Combat Infantryman Badge and Purple Heart.  He notes his separation report indicates he was wounded while in Korea but he never received the Purple Heart.  He also states that he served in combat as an infantryman and should have been awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge.  He submits two statements confirming his assignment to an infantry unit.

3.  Records available to the Board indicate the applicant entered active duty on 
31 December 1948 and served nearly 18 months overseas where he was awarded the Korean Service Medal.  In May 1951 he sustained a shrapnel wound to his left arm in Ingi, Korea.  The wound is confirmed in item 29 (wounds received as a result of action with enemy forces) on his DD Form 214.

4.  On 30 September 1952 the applicant was honorably discharged.  His separation document indicates he was a member of the infantry and that his "most significant duty assignment" was with the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team.  His separation document does not reflect entitlement to the Purple Heart or Combat Infantryman Badge.

5.  There are basically three requirements for award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.  The soldier must be an infantryman, assigned to an infantry unit during such time as the unit is engaged in active ground combat, and must have actively participated in such ground combat.

6.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for wounds 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.

7.  A review of Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-1 (Unit Citation and Campaign Participation Credit Register) notes the applicant’s unit (187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team) was award the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation during his tenure with the organization.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence confirms the applicant was wounded as a result of hostile action and as such is entitled to an award of the Purple Heart.

2.  There is also sufficient evidence that the applicant met the requirements for award of the Combat Infantryman Badge (i.e. an infantryman, assigned to an infantry unit, engaged in active ground combat) and it would be appropriate to award him that badge.

3.  The Board notes that the applicant is also entitled to a Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation.

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 awarding the individual concerned the Purple Heart, Combat Infantryman Badge, and a Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation.

BOARD VOTE:  

__slp___  ___lem__  ___aao__  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000038336	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20000608	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	Grant	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.00	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.