PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF: 

	BOARD DATE:           14 August 2001                 
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2001053875

	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. W. Osborn, Jr.		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Walter T. Morrison		Chairperson	
	Mr. Ronald E. Blakely		Member	
	Mr. Joe R. Schroeder		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 reconsideration of her deceased father’s, the former service member (FSM), previous application to correct his military records by awarding him the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant calls attention to the previous Board’s observation that the page of a report of a separation physical examination could not be identified as belonging to the FSM.  She points out that the page carries the number 30317 which is sequential to the front page of her father’s report of separation physical examination which is numbered 30316.  The applicant submits a copy of the report of separation physical examination in support of her request.  She also sends copies of a field medical tag showing that the applicant was received and transferred by a casualty collecting company and some documents from the FSM’s Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) medical records.

4.  The Memorandum of Consideration (MOC) of the Board’s 2 November 2000 review of the case (AR2000041514) is incorporated herein by reference as if wholly set forth.

5.  The applicant’s submission is new evidence that requires Board consideration.

6.  As noted in the MOC of the original case, during World War II the FSM served in Europe.  His service records were lost or destroyed in the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 also indicates that he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge for service in the Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes-Alsace and Rhineland Campaigns.

7.  The previous Board also noted that according to the unidentified page from a report of medical examination the subject had been hospitalized for battle fatigue and that prior to that hospitalization the subject individual had been knocked-out by a shell blast.

8.  The FSM’s VA medical records indicate that he was hospitalized by the VA in 1964 with psychiatric symptoms and was rated as 100 percent service connected for related psychiatric problems in 1975. 

9.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained while in action against an enemy or 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.  Webster’s New World Medical Dictionary, as available at www.medterms.com describes brain concussion, in part, as follows:  Concussion of the brain:  A traumatic injury to the brain as a result of a violent blow, shaking, or spinning.  A brain concussion can cause immediate and usually temporary impairment of brain function such as of thinking, vision, equilibrium and consciousness.  Violent Trauma: Violent trauma, whether it be from shaking or spinning, causes the brain cells to become depolarized and fire all their neurotransmitters at once in an abrupt cascade, flooding the brain with chemicals --there is a sudden flood of ions (including sodium, potassium, and calcium) -- and deadening receptors in the brain that are associated with learning and memory.  Recovery from concussion:  It takes considerable time and energy for the brain to correct this chemical imbalance.  Changes in the brain start to resolve immediately, but the recovery time seems to vary.  The time depends not only on the severity of the blow, but also on how many previous concussions a person has had.  After a concussion, the arteries in the brain constrict.  This reduces blood flow to the brain and lowers the rate at which oxygen is delivered to the brain. At the same time the demand rises for the sugar glucose which provides energy to the brain for healing.  But the need for more glucose cannot be met by the narrowed arteries and this discepancy ("mismatch") creates a metabolic crisis.  Eventually the damaged brain cells (that survive) do slowly repair themselves, the demand for glucose eases, the arteries to the brain open wider, and blood flow to the brain returns to normal.  However, the brain stays in a lowered metabolic state, a quiescent condition, for a considerable length of time before it can return to normal. Susceptibility to future concussions: Once a person has had a concussion, he or she is as much as four times more likely to sustain a second one. Moreover, after several concussions, it takes less of a blow to cause the injury and requires more time to recover.

11.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 also provides, in pertinent part, that the Bronze Star Medal is awarded for heroism and for meritorious achievement or service in military operations against an armed enemy.  The Bronze Star Medal is authorized for each individual who was cited in orders or awarded a certificate for exemplary conduct in ground combat between 7 December 1941 and 2 September 1945 or whose achievement or service, during that period, was confirmed by documents executed prior to 1 July 1947.  An award of the Combat Infantryman Badge or the Combat Medical Badge is considered to be a citation in orders.  This means, in effect, that the Bronze Star Medal is to be awarded to individuals who were authorized either badge for service during World War II.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The previously unidentifiable page from a report of medical examination is the second page of the FSM’s report of physical examination for separation.  As noted by the applicant, the numbers (apparently film or microfilm frame numbers) are sequential.

The physician conducting the FSM’s separation physical examination, who must have access to his service medical records, apparently did not question that the applicant had been rendered unconscious by a shell blast.  This would have been indicated by an entry that contained a qualifying phrase such as “he reports that he was knocked-out by a shell blast.” 

2.  If the applicant was rendered unconscious by a shell blast, then he suffered a concussion, a wound.  Treatment for concussion is conservative and would have been incidental to the FSM’s hospitalization for combat fatigue.  The Board also notes that during World War II it was common practice to not authorize any awards for soldiers suffering from combat fatigue as this was considered to be detrimental to their recovery.

3.  The FSM’s treatment for a wound sustained as the result of enemy action in July 1944 is a matter of record.  He is entitled to an award of the Purple Heart.

4.  The applicant was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge and is entitled to the Bronze Star Medal 

5.  In view of the foregoing findings and conclusions, correcting the applicant’s records as recommended below would rectify an injustice.

RECOMMENDATION:

That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by showing that he individual concerned was awarded the Purple Heart for a wound sustained as the result of enemy action in July 1944 and that he is authorized the Bronze Star Medal based on the CIB.

BOARD VOTE:

_WTM___  __REB   __JRS___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		_Walter T. Morrison     
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2001053875	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20010814	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	Garnt	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.00	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.