PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           19 December 2000
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000045477

	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. William Blakely		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. James P. Huber		Chairperson	
	Mr. Raymond J. Wagner		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 that the records of her father, a former service member (FSM), be corrected to reflect award of the Purple Heart. 

3.  The applicant states the FSM was wounded on several occasions but never was awarded the Purple Heart.  In support of her contention she submits a letter of support and articles from the newspaper pertaining to the FSM. 

4.  The applicant’s military records were lost or destroyed in the fire that occurred at the National Personnel Records Center in 1973.  The information herein was gleaned from a copy of the FSM’s WD AGO Form 525 (Honorable Discharge from the United States Army) (Obverse) and Enlisted Record (Reverse), which was forwarded with his application. 

5.  His WD AGO Form 525 shows that the FSM was inducted into the Army on 25 September 1917.  He served in France with the American Expeditionary Forces and participated in the Champagne-Marne River Campaign.  He was honorably discharged from the Army on 24 February 1919.

6.  The reverse side of the applicant’s WD AGO Form 525 indicates that he was wounded in the left thigh, foot and finger on 21 July 1918.

7.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 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.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The FSM’s WD AGO Form 525 indicates that he was wounded in the left thigh, foot and finger on 21 July 1918.  There are no medical records in this case to verify that the applicant was wounded as result of hostile action.  However, the FSM’s participation in the Champagne-Marne River Campaign at the time of his wound convinces the Board that it was a result of enemy action.

2.  Therefore, the Board is of the opinion that his records be corrected as recommended below.  

RECOMMENDATION

That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected showing that the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received in action in France on 21 July 1918.

BOARD VOTE:  

__JPH  _  __RJW___  __KLW__  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		____James P. Huber____
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000045477	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20001219	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.00	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.