PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           3 April 2001                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2001051348

	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	
	Mrs. Nancy Amos		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Walter T. Morrison		Chairperson	
	Mr. Thomas F. Baxter		Member	
	Mr. John T. Meixell		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, two Presidential Unit Citations, and the Bronze Star Medal (BSM) for valor.  With regard to award of the BSM for valor, the applicant has not exhausted his administrative remedies and has been advised by separate correspondence to submit a recommendation for award of the BSM for valor under the provisions of Title 10, U. S. Code, section 1130.

3.  The applicant states that he received shrapnel wounds to the left elbow and right knee while serving in Germany.  His unit received unit citations for action in Normandy and Northern France.  He was recommended for award of the BSM for valor for action against a German tank.  He provides his Enlisted Record and Report of Separation, WD AGO Form 53-55 and a VA Award of Disability Compensation or Pension determination dated 4 February 1948 as supporting evidence.

4.  The applicant’s military records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire in 1973.  The information contained herein was obtained from alternate sources.

5.  The applicant was inducted into the Army on 27 November 1943 and entered active service on 18 December 1943.  He arrived in the European Theater of Operations on 1 June 1944.  He was assigned to the 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division.  

6.  Three Office of the Surgeon General Hospital Admission Cards show that the applicant was hospitalized on 28 November 1944 for trench foot.  No other diagnosis is listed.  He was returned to duty in February 1945.

7.  The applicant departed the European Theater of Operations on 8 March 1946 and was demobilized on 25 March 1946.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows that he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge.  No wounds received in action are listed.

8.  The VA Award of Disability Compensation or Pension determination provided by the applicant shows that he was awarded 10 percent disability for an injury to his right knee held to have been incurred or aggravated during his war service.

9.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides policy and criteria concerning individual military decorations.  In pertinent part, it states that the Purple Heart is awarded to any member of an Armed Force who has been wounded or killed in any action against an enemy of the United States.  The wound must have required treatment by a medical officer and records of medical treatment for wounds or 

injuries received in action must have been made a matter of official record.  It also provides for the award of the BSM to members of the armed forces who, after 6 December 1941 and prior to 3 September 1945, have been cited in orders or in a formal certificate for meritorious or exemplary conduct in ground combat against the armed enemy.  A citation in orders for the Combat Infantryman Badge or Medical Badge awarded in the field during the period of actual combat against the armed enemy is considered as a citation for exemplary conduct in ground combat.

10.  Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-1 shows that the 116th Infantry Regiment was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation for action on 6 June 1944
and again for action on 7 – 8 August 1944.  The Distinguished Unit Citation was redesignated the Presidential Unit Citation on 3 November 1966.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The VA determination provided by the applicant confirms that he has an injury to his right knee incurred or aggravated during his war service but it does not confirm that it was incurred as a result of enemy action.  The Hospital Admission Cards available show that he was hospitalized for trench foot but no further diagnosis was indicated.  Corroborating evidence, which may be elsewhere in the medical records available at the VA, is needed to show that his injury was the result of enemy action.  The Board cannot verify entitlement to award of the Purple Heart based upon the evidence available.

2.  Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-1 confirms that the 116th Infantry Regiment was awarded two awards of the Distinguished Unit Citation, currently known as the Presidential Unit Citation.

3.  Based upon the applicant’s award of the Combat Infantryman Badge, he is entitled to award of the Bronze Star Medal (not for valor).

4.  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 showing that the applicant is entitled to award of the Bronze Star Medal and two awards of the Presidential Unit Citation.

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

BOARD VOTE:  

__wtm___  __tfb___  __jtm___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

			Walter T. Morrison
		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2001051348	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20010403	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.0015	
2.	110.04	
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.