PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:      

	BOARD DATE:            20 July 2000                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:    AR2000041405

	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. W. E. Schnupp		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Samuel A. Crumpler		Chairperson	
	Ms. Ann M. Campbell		Member	
	Mr. Kenneth L. Wright		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 issue of all of his World War II medals and that he be awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star Medal (BSM).

3.  The applicant states that he was wounded in the Philippines in 1945 and was shipped from one hospital to another until he was sent home.  He was told that he had moved so many times that his medals would have to be sent to him when he returned to the States.  The medals never arrived.

4.  In support of his request, he has provided a copy of his WD AGO Form 53-55, Enlisted Record and Report of Separation, WD AGO Form 100, Separation Qualification Record, orders awarding him the Bronze Service Arrowhead and a copy of the VA Award of Disability Compensation or Pension for amputation of his toe.

5.  The applicant’s military records were lost or destroyed in the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center.  Information herein is based upon documents furnished by the applicant and from information obtained from alternate sources.

6.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows that he was inducted on 14 October 1942 and served in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations as a rifleman from February 1944 to September 1945.  He was honorably discharged on                17 November 1945 in the grade of private first class.

7.  His awards include the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB), the Expert Infantryman Badge, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with two Bronze Service Stars and Bronze Arrowhead, the Philippines Liberation Ribbon with one Bronze Service Star, the American Theater Ribbon and the World War II Victory Medal.  

8.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 does not show that he was wounded in action or awarded the Purple Heart.  However, information from the Hospital Admission Cards created by the Office of the Surgeon General shows that on 11 May 1945 the applicant was admitted to a General Hospital in the Southwest Pacific for a battle injury (rifle bullet) that resulted in traumatic amputation of a toe.

9.  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 by a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

10.  Subsequent to the cessation of hostilities during World War II, the regulation governing the award of the BSM was changed, in part, to provide for the award of this decoration to those individuals who had been awarded the CIB or the Combat Medical Badge for meritorious achievement in ground combat against the armed enemy between 7 December 1941 and 2 September 1945.

11.  The same regulation provides, in pertinent part, that the Good Conduct Medal is awarded on a selective basis to soldiers who distinguish themselves from among their fellow soldiers by their exemplary conduct, efficiency and fidelity throughout a specified period, normally 3 years, of continuous enlisted active Federal military service.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Evidence of record shows that the applicant was wounded as a result of enemy action on 11 May 1945 and is entitled to the Purple Heart.

2.  His record also shows that he was awarded the CIB, which in accordance with the revised criteria for award of the BSM noted above entitles him to award of the BSM.

3.  Additionally, since he served over three years of apparently exemplary service he is also entitled to be awarded the Good Conduct Medal.

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:

	a.  showing that the individual concerned was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received in combat in the Southwest Pacific on 11 May 1945;

b.  showing that he was awarded the BSM based on receipt of the CIB;

	c.  showing that he was awarded the Good Conduct Medal for the period from 14 October 1942 to 17 November 1945;

d.  issuing a correction to his WD AGO Form 53-55 reflecting that in addition to the above awards, he is entitled to the CIB, the Expert Infantryman Badge, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with two Bronze Service Stars and 

Bronze Arrowhead, the Philippines Liberation Ribbon with one Bronze Service Star, the American Theater Ribbon and the World War II Victory Medal; and 

	e.  issuing to him all of the awards to which he is now entitled.

BOARD VOTE:  

__sac___  __amc __  ___klw __  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		________Samuel A. Crumpler___
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000041405	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20000720	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT PLUS)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  107.00		
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.