PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:            7 September 2000 
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000039215

	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. Wanda L. Waller		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. Celia L. Adolphi		Chairperson	
	Mr. Walter T. Morrison		Member	
	Mr. Thomas B. Redfern, III		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 correction of his military records to show a second award of the Purple Heart (correctly known as the Purple Heart (First Oak Leaf Cluster)).

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that he was wounded on 16 May 1951 and wounded a second time on 18 May 1951, the day he was taken captive.  In support of his application, he submits a VA Rating Decision dated 27 November 1990, copy of VA Personal Hearing transcript dated 26 July 1990, VA Form 
21-4138 (Statement in Support of Claim) dated 14 August 1989, and Letter Orders, dated 26 October 1954, for award of the Purple Heart.  

4.  The applicant’s military records were destroyed or lost during the National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973.  Records available to the Board were obtained from alternate sources and show that the applicant enlisted on 
3 February 1947.  He served as a lineman (telephone and telegraph) in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater from 10 June 1947 to 21 November 1949 and was honorably discharged on 17 December 1949.  He reenlisted on 30 January 1950, served in Korea and was honorably discharged on 28 October 1953. 

5.  The applicant’s DD Form 214 (Report of Separation from the Armed Forces of the United States) with an effective date of 28 October 1953 does not show any award of the Purple Heart as an authorized award.  Item 29 (Wounds Received as a Result of Action with Enemy Forces) on the DD Form 214 shows the entry “None”. 

6.  Records show the applicant was a prisoner of war from 18 May 1951 to
5 September 1953.

7.  The applicant’s repatriation physical examination, dated 5 September 1953, shows he sustained a wound to his right leg on 16 May 1951 as a result of an enemy grenade.  Letter Orders, dated 26 October 1954, show the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received in action against the enemy on 
16 May 1951 in Korea.  

8.  The applicant’s repatriation physical examination, dated 5 September 1953, also shows the applicant sustained a wound to his right forearm during enemy action on 18 May 1951 in Korea.  

9.  DA Forms 1577 (Authorization for Issuance of Awards), dated 29 March 1984 and 8 July 1988, show the Army Reserve Personnel Center in St. Louis, Missouri, determined the applicant was entitled to award of the National Defense Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal and the Prisoner of War Medal. These awards are not shown on his discharge document.
  
10.  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, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.  The bronze oak leaf cluster is awarded to denote the second and succeeding awards of certain decorations, among which is the Purple Heart.

11.  During World War II and the Korean War the Purple Heart was not awarded to soldiers who had been injured while in captivity or while being taken captive.  These injuries were considered to be the result of war crimes and not the result of a legal action of war.  War Department policy, at that time, required that wounds must have been received in action against the enemy or, in other words, incurred in actual combat.  Executive Order 11016, dated 25 April 1962, provided more latitude with respect to award of the Purple Heart to prisoners of war, as well as the authority to award the decoration to wounded soldiers even in the absence of a formal declaration of war.  The issue as to whether this change in policy would be implemented retroactively to prisoners of war from World War I, World War II, and the Korean War was considered several times.  Initially it was decided that the change in policy would not be retroactively implemented.  It was concluded that it would be inappropriate for the Department of Defense to retroactively change the standards and, in effect, countermand the decisions of the past leadership.  However, as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 1996 Congress authorized award of the Purple Heart to any former prisoner of war who was wounded before 25 April 1962 while held as a prisoner of war, or while being taken captive, in the same manner as a former prisoner of war who was wounded on or after that date.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received in action against the enemy on 16 May 1951.  

2.  Medical evidence of record shows the applicant was wounded a second time on 18 May 1951, the day he was taken captive in Korea.  Therefore, he is entitled to correction of his military records to show award of the Purple Heart (First Oak Leaf Cluster). 

3.  The applicant was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal and the Prisoner of War Medal.  Therefore, he is entitled to correction of his military records to show these awards.

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: 

a.  by showing that the individual concerned was awarded the Purple Heart (First Oak Leaf Cluster), the National Defense Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal and the Prisoner of War Medal on the DD Form 214 with an effective date of 28 October 1953; and

	b.  by showing the entries “Korea, 16 May 1951” and “Korea, 18 May 1951” in item 29 (Wounds Received as a Result of Action with Enemy) on his DD Form 214 with an effective date of 28 October 1953. 

BOARD VOTE:  

CLA____  WTM____ TBR_____  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		Celia L. Adolphi_____
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000039215	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20000907	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	19531028	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR 615-367  	
DISCHARGE REASON	Resignation	
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.0015	
2.	107.0069	
3.	107.0085	
4.	107.0029	
5.		
6.