PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:            15 August 2000   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000039913

	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:

	Mr. Thomas D. Howard, Jr.		Chairperson	
	Mr. Arthur A. Omartian		Member	
	Ms. Gail J. Wire		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 discharge document to show award of the Purple Heart. 

3.  The applicant states that he was wounded during enemy fire on 2 February 1945 during World War II.  In support of his application, he submits a copy of his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation), WD AGO Form 100 (Army Separation Qualification Record) dated 30 July 1945, WD AGO Form 40 (Certificate of Disability for Discharge) dated 26 July 1945; and
20-pages of service medical records. 

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 was inducted on
23 November 1942.  He served as a section leader in the European Theater of Operations from 29 January 1944 through 16 March 1945 and was honorably discharged on 30 July 1945 by reason of physical disability.

5.  The applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55, which was authenticated in his own hand, does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award.  Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) of the WD AGO Form 53-55 states “Not Available”.

6.  The applicant provided a copy of a clinical abstract, dated 14 February 1945, which shows the applicant sustained a broken right leg when the truck he was driving struck a tree as he was avoiding enemy fire on 2 February 1945 in France.   

7.  The available records contain information from the Hospital Admission Cards created by the Office of the Surgeon General, Department of the Army (1942-1945) which indicates the applicant was hospitalized for a fractured tibia and fibula as a result of a battle injury on 2 February 1945 in the European Theater of Operations.  

8.  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.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Medical evidence of record shows the applicant was injured as a result of hostile action during World War II.  Therefore, the applicant is entitled to correction of his discharge document to show award of the Purple Heart.

2.  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 showing that the individual concerned was awarded the Purple Heart.

BOARD VOTE:  

TDH____  AAO____  GJW____  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		Thomas D. Howard, Jr._
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000039913	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20000815	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	19450730	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR 615-361  	
DISCHARGE REASON	Physical Disability	
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.0015	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.