MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION

	IN THE CASE OF:      

	BOARD DATE:           17 April 2001                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000050949

	I certify that hereinafter is recorded the record of consideration 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. John H. Kern		Chairperson	
	Ms. Margaret V. Thompson		Member	
	Mr. Melvin H. Meyer		Member	

	The Board, established pursuant to authority contained in 10 U.S.C. 1552, convened at the call of the Chairperson on the above date.  In accordance with Army Regulation 15-185, the application and the available military records pertinent to the corrective action requested were reviewed to determine whether to authorize a formal hearing, recommend that the records be corrected without a formal hearing, or to deny the application without a formal hearing if it is determined that insufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the existence of probable material error or injustice.

	The applicant requests correction of military records as stated in the application to the Board and as restated herein.

	The Board considered the following evidence:

	Exhibit A - Application for correction of military 
                records
	Exhibit B - Military Personnel Records (including
	            advisory opinion, if any)

APPLICANT REQUESTS:  That he be awarded the Purple Heart.

APPLICANT STATES:  On 19 November 1945, he was wounded in the left wrist, left hand and right calf by shrapnel at Hanover Germany.  He was treated by a medic in the field.

In support of his application, he submits a Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) rating decision in which shrapnel wounds to his calf, palm, and wrist are rated.

EVIDENCE OF RECORD:  The applicant's military records could not be located and are presumed to have been destroyed in the fire at the records repository at St. Louis, Missouri, in 1973.  The following information is derived from the applicant’s separation document, which he provided.

He was inducted and entered on active duty on 4 August 1943.  He was promoted to staff sergeant and served as a platoon leader in an anti-aircraft automatic weapons battalion in the Central Europe and Rhineland Campaigns.  His awards and decorations consist of the American Campaign Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, and the WWII Victory Medal.  The WD AGO Form 53-55, Enlisted Record and Report of Separation, Honorable Discharge, the applicant was issued, Item 34, Wounds Received in Action, has “NONE” entered.

A health record research project, commonly referred to as the "SGO Files", involved transposing the hospital admission card data from the periods of World War II and the Korean conflict onto magnetic tape.  Searches of these files fail to show that the applicant was wounded, or injured, as a result of enemy action.

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.

DISCUSSION:  Considering all the evidence, allegations, and information presented by the applicant, together with the evidence of record and applicable law and regulations, it is concluded:

1.  There is no evidence that the applicant was wounded or, if there was evidence of a wound, that it was a result of hostile action.  As such, he is not entitled to the Purple Heart.

2.  The preceding conclusion is reinforced by the absence of wounds listed in either the applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 or the SGO Files.

3.  The rating of shrapnel wounds by the DVA has been carefully considered by the Board.  However, those ratings in of themselves are not sufficient to grant the applicant’s request.  Title 38, United States Code, permits the DVA to award compensation for a medical condition which was incurred in or aggravated by active military service.  The DVA, in accordance with its own policies and regulations, awards compensation solely on the basis that a medical condition exists and that said medical condition reduces or impairs the social or industrial adaptability of the individual concerned.  Consequently, although a medical condition may not qualify a soldier for the Purple Heart, it may be sufficient to qualify the veteran for DVA benefits based on an evaluation by that department.

4.  In view of the foregoing, there is no basis for granting the applicant's request.

DETERMINATION:  The applicant has failed to submit sufficient relevant evidence to demonstrate the existence of probable error or injustice.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

___jhk___  ___mvt__  ___mhm_____  DENY APPLICATION

		    Carl W. S. Chun
		    Director, Army Board for Correction
    of Military Records

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000050949	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20010417	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR .  .  .  .  .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	DENY	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.00	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.