PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:            26 September 2000 
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000044137

	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:

	Mr. Arthur A. Omartian		Chairperson	
	Mr. Melvin H. Meyer		Member	
	Mr. Thomas F. Baxter		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.

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that he is entitled to the Purple Heart because the President passed a law which entitles the Purple Heart to all prisoners of war. He contends that he was held captive as a prisoner of war by the Japanese for three and one half years during World War II.  

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 enlisted on
3 February 1941.  He served as a searchlight operator in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations from 8 May 1941 to 8 September 1945 and was honorably discharged on 31 March 1946.  

5.  Medical records contained in the available records show that the applicant was a prisoner of war from 6 May 1942 to 15 August 1945. 

6.  The applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation) with an effective date of 31 March 1946, which was authenticated in his own hand, does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award.

7.  There is no evidence in the available records that 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 shows “NONE”.

8.  DA Form 1577 (Authorization for Issuance of Awards), dated 16 November 1988, shows the Army Reserve Personnel Center in St. Louis, Missouri, determined that the applicant was entitled to the Prisoner of War Medal.  This award is 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.  Contrary to the applicant’s contention that the President passed a law which entitles the Purple Heart to all prisoners of war, the National Defense Authorization Act of 1996 only authorized award of the Purple Heart to former prisoners of war who were wounded before 25 April 1962.

2.  There is no evidence of record available to the Board which shows the applicant was wounded by hostile action, wounded while held as a POW or wounded while being taken captive.  Therefore, he is not entitled to award of the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant was awarded the Prisoner of War Medal.  Therefore, he is entitled to correction of his military records to show this award.

4.  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 Prisoner of War Medal.

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

BOARD VOTE:  

AAO____  MHM____  TFB____  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		Arthur A. Omartian_
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000044137	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20000926	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	19460331	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR 615-365  	
DISCHARGE REASON	Convenience of the Government	
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.0015	
2.	107.0029	
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.