PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:       

	BOARD DATE:            23 January 2001
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000041227

	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. Joseph A. Adriance		Analyst	

The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Luther L. Santiful		Chairperson	
	Mr. Walter T. Morrison		Member	
	Mr. Thomas E. O’Shaughnessy, Jr.		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 he be awarded the Army Commendation Medal (ARCOM) and the Purple Heart (PH).

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that he was recommended for the ARCOM for his service during World War II and never actually received the award.  He also claims that he was entitled to the PH based on wounds he received in action near Zwerkel, Germany on 28 March 1945 and that he was also recommended for this award and it was made part of his official record but he was never issued the award.  

4.  The applicant’s military records were not available to the Board for review.  A fire destroyed approximately 18 million service members’ records at the National Personnel Records Center in 1973.  It is believed that the applicant’s records were lost in that fire.  

5.  The evidence or record does include a War Department (WD) Adjutant General Office (AGO) Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of 
Separation-Honorable Discharge) issued to the applicant on the date of his separation.  This document verifies that he was inducted into the Army of the United States (AUS) on 27 February 1943 and that his branch of service was Armor.  It also confirms that he served on active duty until being honorably discharged, in the rank of Corporal (CPL), on 24 February 1946.

6.  The WD AGO Form 53-55 also indicates that the applicant arrived for duty in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) on 18 November 1944 and that he served there, with the 80th Amphibian Tractor Battalion, until 10 February 1946.  It also confirms that he participated in the Rhineland, Ardennes, and Central Europe campaigns of World War II and that during his active duty tenure he earned the Good Conduct Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, with three bronze service stars, the American Theater Service Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal.  

7.  The WD AGO Form 53-55 also verifies that the applicant had been recommended to receive the ARCOM and that award was still pending at the time of his separation.  Block 34 (wounds received in action) of this separation document also confirms that during his tenure in service the applicant was wounded in action when he received lacerated shrapnel wounds to the right knee.  

8.  The applicant provides a letter, dated 3 January 1946, subject: “Award of the Purple Heart”, which was prepared and submitted by the Adjutant of the 
80th Amphibian Battalion.  This recommendation includes an affidavit in which the applicant attests to his being wounded in action while engaged in a battle with an enemy force in the vicinity of Zwerkel, Germany on 28 March 1945.  

9.  The affidavit also indicates that the applicant received shrapnel wounds to the right knee and that he was treated by a battalion aid-man, who was later killed in action.  The aid-man advised him to return to the aid-station for treatment but he elected not to do so because he did not wish to be evacuated with the wounded. He continued the action because the right knee wound was not hampering his ability to walk and over time the wound healed fine and only left a scar. 

10.  The applicant also provides a letter from his commanding officer, dated 
19 January 1946, which recommended he receive an ARCOM.  This document states that during the period for which the award was being recommended the applicant served as the First Sergeant of the Headquarters and Services Company of the 80th Amphibian Tractor Battalion.  The citation indicates that the applicant was being recommended for the award based on meritorious service in connection with military operations between July 1945 and January 1946.  

11.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) prescribes Army policy, criteria, and administrative instructions concerning individual military awards. Paragraph 2-8 (Purple Heart) contains the regulatory guidance pertaining to awarding the PH.  It states, in pertinent part, that the PH is awarded in the name of the President of the United States to any member of an Armed Force or any civilian national of the United States who, while serving under competent authority in any capacity with one of the U.S. Armed Services after 5 April 1917, who has been wounded or killed in action.  

12.  The regulation defines a wound as an injury to any part of the body from an outside force or agent sustained under the conditions defined by this regulation.  In order to support awarding a member the PH, it is necessary to establish that the wound, for which the award is being made, required treatment by a medical officer.  This treatment must be supported by records of medical treatment for the wound or injury received in action, and must have been made a matter of official record.  

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The Board noted the applicant’s contention that he did not receive the PH and ARCOM to which he was entitled and earned during his World War II service.  After carefully examining the available evidence the Board finds that  this claim has merit and that relief is warranted in this case.  

2.  The Board finds, in lieu of official service and medical records, that the recommendation of the applicant’s commanding officer that he receive the PH and the confirmation of the wound as documented in the applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 more that satisfies the regulatory burden of proof in this case.  Thus, the Board concludes that it would be appropriate to provide the applicant the PH at this time.  

3.  Additionally, based on the 19 January 1946 recommendation of the applicant’s unit commander and the WD AGO Form 53-55 confirmation that the award was pending at the time of his separation, the Board finds the applicant is entitled to receive the ARCOM for meritorious service between July 1945 and January 1946.

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 by awarding the individual concerned the PH for wounds he received in action, on 28 March 1945, while serving as a Corporal in Germany during World War II; and the ARCOM for meritorious service for the period July 1945 through January 1946.  Further, the individual concerned should be provided a corrected separation document reflecting these corrections. 

BOARD VOTE:  

__teo ___  __wtm___  ___ls____  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		____Luther L. Santiful_____
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000041227	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	2001/01/23	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	HD	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	1946/02/24	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR 615-365	
DISCHARGE REASON	Demobilization	
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  60	107.0014	
2.  61	107.0015	
3.  66	107.0020	
4.  		
5.		
6.