PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:       

	BOARD DATE:            13 February 2001
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000049639

	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. Jessie B. Strickland		Analyst	

The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. June Hajjar		Chairperson	
	Ms. Shirley L. Powell		Member	
	Mr. Harry B. Oberg		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 records be corrected to reflect his award of the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that he was given a Purple Heart for wounds he received in combat in Korea on 5 March 1953 and only recently discovered that his records do not reflect the award, when he requested to have his medal engraved with his name.   

4.  The applicant’s military records were destroyed in the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri which destroyed millions of service records.  However, reconstructed records containing his report of separation (DD Form 214) and copies of his medical records show that while serving as an infantry private in Korea with Company F, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, he was wounded by sniper fire on 5 March 1953.

5.  He was medically evacuated to several hospitals and was subsequently honorably discharged by Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C. on 30 November 1953, by reason of permanent physical disability retirement.  He had served 1 year, 6 months and 11 days of total service of which 2 months and 28 days had been spent overseas.  He was awarded the Korean Service Medal with one bronze service star and the United Nations Service Medal.  There is no indication in the available records to show that he was awarded the Purple Heart for his wounds.  However, his DD Form 214 clearly shows that he was wounded on 5 March 1953.

6.  On 27 January 2000, the National Personnel Records Center directed that he be issued a Good Conduct Medal (GCMDL) and a National Defense Service Medal (NDSM).  However, there is no indication in his records to show that his records were corrected to reflect those awards.

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 a result of hostile action, that the wound must have required treatment by a medical officer, and that the medical treatment was made a matter of official record.

8.  Army Regulation 672-5-1, in effect at the time, established the criteria for award of the CIB.  It states, in pertinent part, that to be eligible for the CIB, an individual must be an infantryman with an infantry military occupational specialty (MOS) and must perform duty as an infantryman, as a member of an infantry unit of brigade or smaller size, during any period in which that unit was engaged in ground combat.  Battle participation credit alone is not sufficient.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Although there is no evidence in the available records to show that the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart, he asserts that he was and given the presence of evidence to show that he was entitled to the award, it is reasonable to believe that he was in fact awarded the Purple Heart and that an administrative oversight resulted in it not being reflected in his records.  Therefore, it would be in the interest of justice to correct his records at this time to show that he was awarded the Purple Heart.

2.  The Board notes that the applicant served as an infantryman with an infantry company at the time he was wounded by enemy sniper fire on 5 March 1953; therefore, he should have been awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge as well. Accordingly, it would also be in the interest of justice to do so at this time. 

3.  The awards of the GCMDL and NDSM have been awarded by the appropriate authorities, however, they have not been duly recorded on his DD Form 214.  Therefore, it would be appropriate to do so at this time.

4.  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:

a).  by awarding the individual concerned the Combat Infantryman Badge for his performance as an infantryman engaged with combat against the enemy on 5 March 1953, while assigned as a private with Company F, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division; and

	b).  by showing that he was awarded the Purple Heart, the NDSM, and the GCMDL.

BOARD VOTE:  
__hbo___  __slp____  __jh ____  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		_____June Hajjar ______
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000049639	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	2001/02/13	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  61	107.0015/PH	
2.  157	107.0111/CIB	
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.