PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:      

	BOARD DATE:           1 March 2001                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000047589

	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. W. E. Schnupp		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. John H. Kern		Chairperson	
	Mr. Curtis L. Greenway		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 that he be awarded the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant states that during the Battle of the Bulge he was wounded when an exploding American artillery shell caused a tree to fall on him injuring his head, back and leg.  He says that he spent 3 months in a hospital as a result of his injuries.

4.  In support of his request, he submits a copy of his WD AGO Form 53-55, Enlisted Record and Report of Separation.

5.  The applicant’s military records were lost or destroyed in the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center.  Information herein was derived from the document submitted by the applicant and from alternate sources.

6.  He was inducted on 29 April 1944 and served as a rifleman in a combat engineer battalion in the European Theater of Operations from October 1944 to January 1946.  He was honorably separated with a Certificate for Disability Discharge on 8 December 1946 in the grade of private first class.

7.  His awards include the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB), the American Campaign Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 2 Bronze Battle Stars (for participation in the Ardennes and Rhineland campaigns), the World War II Victory Medal, the Good Conduct Medal and the World War II Honorable Service Lapel Button.

8.  Information from hospital admission cards created by the Office of The Surgeon General (OTSG) for the years 1942 to 1945 shows that the applicant was admitted to a general hospital in Europe on 12 January 1945 as a battle casualty suffering from wounds cause by an artillery shell blast.

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 by a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

10.  Subsequent to the cessation of hostilities during World War II, the regulation governing the award of the Bronze Star Medal (BSM) was changed, in part, to provide for the award of this decoration to those individuals who had been awarded the CIB for meritorious achievement in ground combat against the armed enemy between 7 December 1941 and 2 September 1945.

11.  The awards regulation also provides that the Army of Occupation Medal (Germany) may be awarded for service for 30 consecutive days at a normal post of duty while assigned to the Army of Occupation of Germany (exclusive of Berlin) between 9 May 1945 and 5 May 1955.  Service between 9 May and 8 November 1945 would be counted only if the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal was awarded for service prior to 9 May 1945.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The OTSG hospital admission data shows that the applicant was admitted to a general hospital as a battle casualty on 12 January 1945.  This information substantiates that he meets the criteria for award of the Purple Heart.

2.  As a matter of completing his record, it is noted that he was awarded the CIB during his World War II service.  Therefore, in accordance with current regulations he is also authorized the award of the BSM.  Furthermore, considering the period of his service in Europe and the fact that he participated in the Rhineland campaign, he is entitled to the Army of Occupation Medal (Germany).

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

RECOMMENDATION:

That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by:

	a.  showing that the individual concerned was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received in action during World War II, the BSM (based on award of the CIB) and the Army of Occupation Medal (Germany); and 

b.  issuing him the above mentioned awards.

BOARD VOTE:  

___jhk __  ___clg __  ____rtd__  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		__________John H. Kern_________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000047589	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20010301	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT PLUS)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  107.00		
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.