PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:            7 September 2000 
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000043886

	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:

	Ms. Celia L. Adolphi		Chairperson	
	Mr. Walter T. Morrison		Member	
	Mr. Thomas B. Redfern, III		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 award of the Purple Heart and any other awards to which he may be entitled.

3.  The applicant states that he was in combat in December 1944 and was taken prisoner.  He contends that he was beaten three times by Germans while a prisoner of war.  In support of his application, he submits a copy of his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separtion).    

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 
29 March 1944.  He served as a rifleman in the European Theater of Operations from 29 October 1944 to 5 May 1945 and was honorably discharged on 
30 November 1945.   

5.  The applicant’s discharge document, which was authenticated in his own hand, does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award. 

6.  There is no evidence in the available records which shows the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart or was wounded as a result of hostile action.  Item 
34 (Wounds Received in Action) of the applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 states “None”. 

7.  The applicant’s discharge document shows that he was a former prisoner of war.  There is no evidence in the available records which shows the applicant was wounded while held as a prisoner of war or while being taken captive.

8.  DA Form 1577 (Authorization for Issuance of Awards), dated 6 June 1988, shows the Army Reserve Personnel Center in St. Louis, Missouri, determined the applicant was entitled to award of the Bronze Star Medal (based on award of the Combat Infantryman Badge) and the Prisoner of War Medal.  These awards are not shown on his discharge document.

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

10.  During World War II and the Korean War the Purple Heart was not awarded to soldiers who had been injured while in captivity or while being taken captive.  These injuries were considered to be the result of war crimes and not the result of a legal action of war.  War Department policy, at that time, required that 

wounds must have been received in action against the enemy or, in other words, incurred in actual combat.  Executive Order 11016, dated 25 April 1962, provided more latitude with respect to award of the Purple Heart to prisoners of war, as well as the authority to award the decoration to wounded soldiers even in the absence of a formal declaration of war.  The issue as to whether this change in policy would be implemented retroactively to prisoners of war from World War I, World War II, and the Korean War was considered several times.  Initially it was decided that the change in policy would not be retroactively implemented.  It was concluded that it would be inappropriate for the Department of Defense to retroactively change the standards and, in effect, countermand the decisions of the past leadership.  However, as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 1996 Congress authorized award of the Purple Heart to any former prisoner of war who was wounded before 25 April 1962 while held as a prisoner of war, or while being taken captive, in the same manner as a former prisoner of war who was wounded on or after that date.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The Board noted the applicant’s contention that he was beaten three times by Germans while a prisoner of war.  However, there is no evidence of record available to the Board, and the applicant has provided no evidence, which shows he was wounded or treated for wounds as a result of hostile action or that he was wounded while held as a prisoner of war or while being taken captive during World War II.  Therefore, the applicant is not entitled to award of the Purple Heart.  

2.  The applicant was awarded the Bronze Star Medal (based on award of the Combat Infantryman Badge) and the Prisoner of War Medal.  Therefore, he is entitled to correction of his military records to show these awards.

3.  In view of the foregoing findings and conclusions, it would be appropriate to correct the applicant’s records, but only as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

1.  That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by showing that the individual concerned was awarded the Bronze Star Medal (based on award of the Combat Infantryman Badge) and the Prisoner of War Medal.

2.  That so much of the application as is in excess of the foregoing be denied.

BOARD VOTE:  

CLA____  WTM____  TBR____  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		Celia L. Adolphi_______
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000043886	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20000907	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	19451130	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	Section II War Department Circular 339 dated 8 November 1945	
DISCHARGE REASON	Former Prisoner of War	
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.0015	
2.	107.0014	
3.	107.0029	
4.		
5.		
6.