MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION

	IN THE CASE OF:   

	BOARD DATE:           10 August 2000                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000039919

	I certify that hereinafter is recorded the record of consideration of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in the case of the above-named individual.

	Mr. Carl W. S. Chun		Director	
	Mrs. Nancy Amos		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Mark D. Manning		Chairperson	
	Mr. John Saputo		Member	
	Ms. Karen A. Heinz		Member	

	The Board, established pursuant to authority contained in 10 U.S.C. 1552, convened at the call of the Chairperson on the above date.  In accordance with Army Regulation 15-185, the application and the available military records pertinent to the corrective action requested were reviewed to determine whether to authorize a formal hearing, recommend that the records be corrected without a formal hearing, or to deny the application without a formal hearing if it is determined that insufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the existence of probable material error or injustice.

	The applicant requests correction of military records as stated in the application to the Board and as restated herein.

	The Board considered the following evidence:

	Exhibit A - Application for correction of military 
                records
	Exhibit B - Military Personnel Records (including
	            advisory opinion, if any)

APPLICANT REQUESTS:  That he be awarded the Purple Heart.

APPLICANT STATES:  That he was hit in the right forearm with a small piece of enemy shrapnel while with the 101st Airborne Division in Bastogne, Belgium.  It was not serious enough to need medical attention.  He put a small bandage on it and forgot about it until several years later.  The VA has noticed it.  On 20 June 1945, he was with the Division’s Military Police platoon in Austria.  On that morning he was going around a corner on his Army motorcycle when he met a German military truck carrying civilian displaced persons.  The truck swerved in a deliberate attempt to kill him.  He and the motorcycle were thrown over the truck. He is currently receiving a 70 percent disability rating for those injuries.  

EVIDENCE OF RECORD:  The applicant's military records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire in 1973.  The information contained herein was obtained from documents provided by the applicant.

The WD AGO Form 53-55, Report of Separation, provided is partially illegible.  It cannot be determined when the applicant entered the Army.  He arrived in the European Theater of Operations on 5 June 1944.  He departed the theater on     2 August 1945.  A Final Summary medical report dated on or about 3 August 1945 noted that the applicant had been run over by a German truck in Austria on 20 June 1945 when he was struck as he was riding a motorcycle.  He had received multiple contusions and abrasions and a fracture of the left tibia and fibula.  He was separated on 24 January 1946.

Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides policy and criteria concerning individual military decorations.  In pertinent part, it states that the Purple Heart is awarded to any member of an Armed Force who has been wounded or killed in any action against an enemy of the United States.  The wound must have required treatment by a medical officer and records of medical treatment for wounds or injuries received in action must have been made a matter of official record. 

DISCUSSION:  Considering all the evidence, allegations, and information presented by the applicant, together with the evidence of record, applicable law and regulations, it is concluded:

1.  The Board concludes that the applicant does not meet the criteria for award of the Purple Heart for either of the actions he cites.

2.  The applicant has provided no substantiating evidence, such as a VA report, about his shrapnel wound other than his self-authored statement.  In addition, the regulation requires that the wound must have required treatment by a medical officer and records of medical treatment for wounds or injuries received in action must have been made a matter of official record.  The applicant has stated that his wound was not serious enough to require medical attention and he treated himself.

3.  The Board acknowledges that the applicant’s injuries incurred on 20 June 1945 at the hands of a German were serious and occurred in the line of duty.  However, that German was no longer an “enemy of the United States” and any deliberate attempt he made to kill the applicant was done in opposition to his country’s terms of surrender.  Therefore, those injuries do not meet the criteria for award of the Purple Heart, either.

4.  In view of the foregoing, there is no basis for granting the applicant's request.

DETERMINATION:  The applicant has failed to submit sufficient relevant evidence to demonstrate the existence of probable error or injustice.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

__mdm___  __js____  __kah___  DENY APPLICATION

		    Carl W. S. Chun
		    Director, Army Board for Correction
    of Military Records

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000039919	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20000810	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(DENY)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.0015	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.