PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF: 

	BOARD DATE:            19 October 2000
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000040333

	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. William Blakely		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Ernest W. Lutz		Chairperson	
	Ms. Tracey L. Pinson		Member	
	Mr. Christopher J. Prosser		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, that his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Separation Document) be corrected to show in Item 34 (Wounds Received In Action) that he was wounded in Germany in April 1945 as a result of enemy forces.

3.  The applicant states that he was awarded the Purple Heart and that his separation document should reflect he was wounded as a result of enemy forces. 

4.  The applicant’s military records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire in 1973.  The information herein was gleaned from a copy of the applicant’s separation document and his WD AGO Form 38 (Discharge ,Release from Active Duty or Retirement) both of which he forwarded with his application.  The file did contain a Hospital Admission Card created by the Office of the Surgeon General, Department of the Army for the year 1945. 

5.  His separation document shows he was inducted on 2 August 1944 and was trained and served as a light weapons infantryman.  He was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge, the World War II Victory Medal, the American Theater Service Medal, the Army of Occupation Medal (Germany), the European African Middle Eastern Service Medal, and the Good Conduct Medal. 

6.  The applicant’s separation document does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award.  Item 34 (Wounds Received In Action) of the applicant’s separation document shows the entry “None”.  Item 11 (Significant Diseases, Wounds, and Injuries) of the applicant’s WD AGO Form 38.

7.  The Army Surgeon General Office hospitalization file listing for 1945 shows that the applicant was admitted on 19 April 1945 for treatment of a wound in to his left foot caused by artillery shell fragments.

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 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.

9.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 also provides, in pertinent part, that the Bronze Star Medal is awarded for heroism and for meritorious achievement or service in military operations against an armed enemy.  The Bronze Star Medal is authorized for each individual who was cited in orders or awarded a certificate for exemplary conduct in ground combat between 7 December 1941 and 
2 September 1945 or whose such achievement or service, during that period, was confirmed by documents executed prior to 1 July 1947.  An award of the Combat Infantryman Badge or the Combat Medical Badge is considered to be a citation in orders.  This means, in effect, that the Bronze Star Medal is to be awarded to individuals who were authorized either badge for service during World War II.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant’s records were lost or destroyed in the fire at the Records Center and there are no personal records which may have contained general orders announcing the award of the Purple Heart.

2.  Evidence of record shows that the applicant was wounded in action on 
19 April 1945 while serving in Germany as a result of action with enemy forces. Therefore, he is entitled, to correction of item 33 (Decorations and Awards) to show he was awarded the Purple Heart and to show in item 34 (Wounds Received In Action) of his WD AGO Form 53-55 the entry “Shrapnel Wound – Left Foot –19 April 1945 Germany”.

3.  The applicant is entitled to correction of his records to show the Bronze Star Medal based on award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.

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 showing that the individual concerned was awarded the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star Medal, and to show in item 34 the entry “Shrapnel Wound - Left Foot -
19 April 1945 Germany”. 

BOARD VOTE:  

__EWL__  ___TLP__  __CJP___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000040333	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20001019	
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.	107.000	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.