PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF: 

	BOARD DATE:  22 August 2000
	DOCKET NUMBER:  AR2000039464

	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. Lee Cates		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Edward Williamson		Chairperson	
	Ms. Margaret V. Thompson		Member	
	Mr. Kenneth W. Lapin		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 his records be corrected to show entitlement to award of the Purple Heart (PH) and issuance of a new DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty).

3.  The applicant states that he has the medal, but not the authorization.  He provided a copy of his DD Form 214, dated 6 July 1953. 

4.  The applicant’s military records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973.  Information herein was obtained from alternate sources.

5.  On 7 July 1950, he enlisted in the Army for 3 years.  He completed his required training and was awarded military occupational specialty 1666 (Medical Aidman).  He was advanced to the rank of corporal, effective 15 April 1953.

6.  The available records show that during this period of active duty, he served in Korea for a period of 1 year, 8 months and 18 days.  The specific dates are not available.

7.  Information provided by the Office of The Surgeon General, for the period 1950-1954, indicates:

	a.  that, while a member of the 31st Infantry Regiment, he was wounded in the thigh by small arms fire on 2 June 1951 and admitted to an Army medical facility, and

	b.  that, while a member of the 38th Infantry Regiment, he was wounded in the neck and foot by small arms fire on 3 September 1951 and admitted to an Army medical facility.

8.  On 6 July 1953, he was honorably separated under Army Regulation 615-360, based on the expiration of his term of service.  His DD Form 214 indicates he had 3 years of creditable service for this period.  It also noted that he received a GSW (gunshot wound) in the left thigh, on 2 June 1951, in Korea as a result of enemy action.

9.  Army Regulation (AR) 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides, in pertinent part, that the PH 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.

10.  Army Regulation 635-5 (Personnel Separation Documents) indicates, in pertinent part, that a new DD Form 214 will be issued:

a.  By proper appellate authority, Executive Order, or by the Secretary of the Army,

b.  When it is determined that the correction will not fit in the designated correction block of a single DD Form 215,

c.  Two DD Forms 215 have been issued and an additional correction is required, or

d.  The character of service is to be changed.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Although his DD Form 214 only gives evidence of entitlement to award of the PH, medical records validate the entitlement to the PH with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster.

2.  There is no justification for reissuance of his DD Form 214.

3.  In view of the foregoing, the applicant’s records should be corrected as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

1.  That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by awarding the individual concerned the PH for a wound received on 2 June 1951 and the PH with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster for wounds received on 3 September 1951 and that he be issued a DD Form 215.

2. That so much of the application as is in excess of the foregoing be denied.

BOARD VOTE:  

__ew___  ___mt__  __kl___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		___Edward Williamson___
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000039464	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20000822	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(NC, GRANT , DENY, GRANT PLUS)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.107	Purple Heart	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.