PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:      

	BOARD DATE:           5 April 2001                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000050224

	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:

	Ms. June Hajjar		Chairperson	
	Mr. Harry B. Oberg		Member	
	Ms. Celia L. Adolphi		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 the Purple Heart has been omitted from his DD Form 214, Report of Separation.  He was wounded in the left leg and the left side of the face on 1 March 1953 in Korea.  His wounds have been recorded on DD Form 214 but the Purple Heart has been omitted.

4.  The applicant’s military record shows that he was inducted on 15 January 1952, was trained as an infantryman and served in Korea.  He was honorably released to the US Army Reserve upon completion of his active duty commitment on 15 October 1953 in the grade of corporal.

5.  His awards include the Korean Service Medal with 2 Bronze Service Stars, the United Nations Service Medal, and the Combat Infantryman Badge.

6.  Block 29 (wounds received as a result of action with enemy forces) of DD Form 214 contains the entry “Shell-Fragment Wound-Left Leg & Left Side Face-1 Mar 53-Korea”.

7.  Information obtained from hospital admission cards created by the Office of The Surgeon General (OTSG) for the years 1950-1954, shows that the applicant was admitted to a medical treatment facility in Korea on 1 March 1953 with penetrating wounds to the buttock, hip and leg as a direct result of enemy action.

8.  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.

9.  The same regulation provides that the National Defense Service Medal (NDSM) is awarded for honorable active service for any period between 27June 1950 and 27 July 1954.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence of record clearly shows that the applicant was wounded in combat on 1 March 1953 and is entitled to have the Purple Heart reflected on DD Form 214.

2.  Additionally, he served during a period when the NDSM was authorized and he should have this award reflected on his DD Form 214 also.

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 showing that the individual concerned was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received on 1 March 1953, and the NDSM.

BOARD VOTE:  

___jh ___  ___hbo__  ___cla __  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		__________June Hajjar____________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000050224	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20010405	
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.