PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF: 

	BOARD DATE:  26 July 2001
DOCKET NUMBER:  AR2001055102

	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	
	Ms. Joyce A. Wright		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Raymond V. O’Connor, Jr. 		Chairperson	
	Mr. Eric N. Anderson		Member	
	Mr. Hubert O. Fry		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 award of the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation) does not show the award of the Purple Heart.  
In support of his application he submits a copy of his WD AGO Form 53-55.

4.  The applicant’s military records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973.  Records available to the Board were obtained from alternate sources and show he was inducted on 12 December 1942 as a heavy truck driver (931).  He served in the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater of Operations from 24 February 1944 to 22 November 1945 and was honorably discharged on 15 December 1945.

5.  The applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he was awarded the American Service Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater Service Medal with one silver service star, the Good Conduct Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal.  His discharge document does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award.  

6.  Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) of the applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55,
which was authenticated in his own hand, shows the entry “NONE.”

7.  The applicant provided a copy of a Surgeon General Office (SGO) Hospital Listing, which shows that he was admitted to the hospital on 4 November 1944 as a battle casualty.  He was diagnosed as having a wound penetrating (point of entrance only:  includes incised, puncture or stab wound) with no nerve or artery involvement on his head and scalp.  

8.  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 the result of hostile action, the wound must have required treatment, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official records.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence of record shows that the applicant received a wound to his head and scalp on 4 November 1944 while serving in the European Theater of Operations. Therefore, he is entitled to correction of his military records to show award of the Purple Heart.

2.  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 for the individual concerned be corrected by showing in item 33 (Decorations and Awards) of his WD AGO Form 53-55 that he was awarded the Purple Heart.

BOARD VOTE:  

__ro___  ___ea___  ___hf___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		___Raymond V. O’Connor, Jr.
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX
CASE ID	AR2001055102	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20010726	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	HD	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	19451215	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . 615-365	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1. 61		
2.  		
3.  		
4.		
5.		
6.