PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           2 November 2000                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000044178

	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	
	Mrs. Nancy Amos		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Fred N. Eichorn		Chairperson	
	Mr. Ted S. Kanamine		Member	
	Mr. William D. Barr		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 that he be awarded the Purple Heart with 3 oak leaf clusters and that the Purple Heart with oak leaf clusters and the Bronze Star Medal (BSM) be added to his Enlisted Record and Report of Separation, WD AGO Form 53-55.

3.  The applicant states that he was wounded four times.  He provides his Report of Physical Examination of Enlisted Personnel Prior to Discharge, Release from Active Duty or Retirement, WD AGO Form 38, and a VA appeal decision as supporting evidence.

4.  The applicant’s military records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire in 1973.  The information contained herein was obtained from reconstructed records.

5.  The applicant was inducted into the Army and entered active service on        24 October 1944.  He arrived in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations on       7 May 1945 and departed on 27 August 1946.  He was demobilized on              26 December 1946.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge.

6.  The applicant’s WD AGO Form 38, item 11 contains the entry “Operation lt eye infected 35 Evac Hosp. Japan Dec 45.”

7.  A VA appeal decision dated 25 March 1998 mentions that the applicant was granted service connection for residuals of a shell fragment wound to his left eyelid.

8.  Authorization for Issuance of Awards, DA Form 1577, dated 16 July 1986 authorized the applicant issuance of the BSM, based upon his award of the Combat Infantryman Badge, in addition to all his other awards.

9.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides policy and criteria concerning individual military decorations.  In pertinent part, it states that the Purple Heart is awarded to any member of an Armed Force who has been wounded or killed in any action against an enemy of the United States.  The wound must have required treatment by a medical officer and records of medical treatment for wounds or injuries received in action must have been made a matter of official record.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The Board accepts the evidence provided as substantiating the applicant’s claim for award of one Purple Heart.  The WD AGO Form 38 notes only that the applicant was operated on for an infected left eye in December 1945 (outside the established period of the World War II armed conflict).  However, considered in conjunction with the information in the VA appeal decision, the Board concludes that he was wounded in action.

2.  There is no evidence of record and the applicant provides none to substantiate his claim that he was wounded three additional times.  

3.  The applicant was entitled to award of the BSM based upon his award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.  He was authorized issuance of the BSM in 1986. It would be appropriate to add the BSM to his WD AGO Form 53-55.

4.  In view of the foregoing, the applicant’s records should be corrected as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

1.  That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by awarding the applicant the Purple Heart and by adding the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star Medal to his WD AGO Form 53-55.

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

BOARD VOTE:  

__fne___  __tsk___  __wdb___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

			Fred N. Eichorn
		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000044178	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20001102	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.0015	
2.	110.04	
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.