PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           14 December 2000                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000047214

	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. June Hajjar 		Chairperson	
	Mr. Hubert O. Fry 		Member	
	Mr. Richard T. Dunbar		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, in effect, award of the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that his service and medical records reflect that he accidentally shot himself while cleaning his rifle on 16 May 1945 in the Philippine Islands during World War II.  He contends that this reflects a regrettable lie that he told while in the field hospital because he was afraid to admit that he had fallen asleep while on perimeter guard for his platoon.  He now claims that he was shot by a Japanese soldier.  He goes on to state that when he was approached at the field hospital and presented with a Purple Heart he informed the captain that he had accidentally shot himself while cleaning his rifle that morning and did not deserve a Purple Heart.  He would like his discharge document to reflect that he was wounded in action.  He contends that he is old now, that he has little to pass along to his children but the truth of what happened and would like the official record to show what really happened.  In support of his application, he submits a letter, dated 12 May 1999, from a VA psychologist treating the applicant for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder who attests that through treatment/therapy the applicant revealed the truth surrounding his gunshot wound on 16 May 1945; progress notes from a VA psychiatrist; letters from Members of Congress dated 2 October 1996, 15 August 1997, 7 August 1997, 27 October 1998, 30 November 1998, and 12 April 1999; Line of Duty Status letters dated 10 June 1945, 3 July 1945, and 23 July 1945; a copy of his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation; an Honorable Discharge Certificate from the U.S. Navy dated 7 June 1943; a 6 May 1976 letter from the Reserve components Personnel and Administration Center in St. Louis, Missouri; and a 10 October 1978 letter to a Member of Congress.     

4.  The applicant’s records contain an application for correction of military records, dated 7 November 1975, wherein he requested correction of his discharge document to show that he was wounded in action and issued the Purple Heart.  This application was closed by letter on 6 May 1976 and cited that the applicant was not entitled to the Purple Heart because his military and medical records show that he received a gunshot wound of the upper arm when his rifle discharged accidentally while he was cleaning it.  His records also contain an application for correction of military records, dated 12 May 1976, wherein he requested correction of his discharge document to show that he sustained a gunshot wound to his left arm.  This application was returned without action based on the letter cited above dated 6 May 1976.  
      
5.  The applicant’s military records show that he served in the U.S. Navy from 
30 April 1943 to 7 June 1943.  He was inducted in the Army of the United States on 11 July 1944.  The applicant served as a rifleman in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations from 6 March 1945 to 9 August 1945 and was honorably discharged by reason of physical disability on 1 March 1946.

6.  The applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55, which was authenticated in his own hand, does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award.  Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) shows the entry “None”.  

7.  Form 52a (Medical Department), dated 16 May 1945, shows the applicant accidentally incurred a gunshot wound to his left arm while cleaning his rifle on 16 May 1945 at 0645 hours, Mindanao, PI [Philippine Islands].

8.  DA Form 1577 (Authorization for Issuance of Awards), dated 13 July 1978, shows the Reserve Components Personnel and Administration Center in St. Louis, Missouri, determined that the applicant was eligible for the Bronze Star Medal (based on award of the Combat Infantryman Badge) and the Bronze Arrowhead to be affixed to the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign 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.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Medical evidence of record shows the applicant was accidentally wounded on 16 May 1945 in the Philippine Islands while cleaning his rifle, not as a result of hostile action.

2.  There is no evidence of record available to the Board, and the applicant has provided no convincing evidence, which shows he was wounded or treated for wounds as a result of hostile action during World War II.  Therefore, the applicant is not entitled to correction of his military records to show award of the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant is entitled to the Bronze Star Medal (based on award of the Combat Infantryman Badge) and the Bronze Arrowhead to be affixed to the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal.  Therefore, he is entitled to correction of his discharge document to show these awards.  

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 Bronze Star Medal (based on award of the Combat Infantryman Badge) and the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with Bronze Arrowhead.

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

BOARD VOTE:  

JH______  HOF____  RTD____  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		June Hajjar________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR200047214	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20001214	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	19460301	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR 615-361 Section I	
DISCHARGE REASON	Certificate of Disability for Discharge	
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.0015	
2.	107.0014	
3.	107.0064	
4.		
5.		
6.