PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:     

	BOARD DATE:           15 February 2001                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000047531

	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. Edmund P. Mercanti		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Fred N. Eichorn		Chairperson	
	Mr. Melvin H. Meyer		Member	
	Ms. Margaret K. Patterson		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 his DD Form 214, Report of Separation from the Armed Forces of the United States, be corrected to show that he was given two awards of the Purple Heart. 

3.  The applicant states that he was wounded twice in combat.  He has recently discovered two newspaper articles concerning his wounds which he contends confirm his wounds and would now like the two Purple Heart medals that he is entitled to as a result of those wounds.

4.  In support of his request the applicant submits the two newspaper articles.  The first is purportedly from a newspaper dated 14 July 1952 which stated that the applicant was injured when a mortar round hit his bunker which buried him for nearly 2 hours.  The article continues that the applicant was treated for a back injury and was returned to duty.  The second article is purportedly from a newspaper dated 29 November 1952 which stated that the applicant was injured slightly by shrapnel and had been hospitalized for several weeks.  That article continued that the applicant had received the Purple Heart for his wounds.

5.  The applicant’s military records could not be located and are presumed to have been destroyed in the fire at the records repository located at St. Louis, Missouri, in 1973.  The following information is derived from the applicant’s DD Form 214 which he provided to the Board.

6.  He enlisted in the Regular Army on 11 July 1951, served 11 months and 22 days overseas, was promoted to the rank of sergeant first class, was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Korean Service Medal with two service stars, the United Nations Service Medal, and the National Defense Service Medal, and was honorably released from active duty on 12 June 1954.  Item 29 of his DD Form 214, Wounds received as a result of action with enemy forces, has “Korea, 20 June 1952” entered.

7.  In the processing of this case the records of the Office of The Surgeon General of the Army was searched, which resulted in the retrieval of hospital admission cards which show that the applicant was hospitalized on 23 June 1952 for a contusion of his thoracic wall, which was the result of explosive projectile shells, and was the direct result of action against or by an organized enemy.

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for wounds 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 by a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  It is evident that the applicant met the criteria of law and regulation for award of the Purple Heart for the shrapnel wound he incurred on 20 June 1952.

2.  However, there is insufficient evidence in which to give him a second award of the Purple Heart for injuries he incurred in November 1952.

3.  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 individual concerned the Purple Heart for shrapnel wounds he incurred on 20 June 1952.

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

BOARD VOTE:  

___fne__  ___mhm_  ____mkp_  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		_________Fred N. Eichorn_______
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000047531	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20010215	
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.