PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:      

	BOARD DATE:           1 August 2001                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2001055150

	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:

	Mr. Walter T. Morrison 		Chairperson	
	Mr. Arthur A. Omartian		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 and the Bronze Star Medal (BSM).

3.  The applicant states that he was treated at a mobile hospital after a mortar attack in April 1945.  Two comrades were killed during the attack.  He also states that he was awarded the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal (EAME) with 3 bronze stars and by congressional legislation should be awarded the BSM.

4.  In support of his request, he submits a copy of his WD AGO Form 53-55, Enlisted Record and Report of Separation.

5.  The applicant’s military records were lost or destroyed in the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center.  Information herein was derived from the document he submitted as well as from other sources

6.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows that he was inducted on 28 June 1944 and served as a rifleman in the European Theater of Operations from January to July 1945.  He was honorably discharged at demobilization on 13 February 1946 in the grade of private first class.

7.  His awards include the EAME with 3 bronze battle stars, the Good Conduct Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the World War II Honorable Service Lapel Button and the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB).  The Purple Heart is not listed as an authorized award; nor, does block 34 (wounds received in action) of his WD AGO Form 53-55 show that he was wounded during his service.

8.  Information obtained from hospital admission cards created by The Office of the Surgeon General for the year 1944 shows that the applicant was admitted to a medical treatment facility in Arkansas in July 1944 with a diagnosis of pterygium (abnormal membrane of the eye).  He was released to duty after six days of treatment.

9.  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.

10.  Subsequent to the cessation of hostilities during World War II, the regulation governing the award of the BSM was changed, in part, to provide for the award of this decoration to those individuals who had been awarded the CIB for meritorious achievement in ground combat against the armed enemy between 7 December 1941 and 2 September 1945.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence of record shows that the applicant was treated in an Army medical treatment facility in Arkansas for an eye disorder in July 1944.  There is no record of him receiving any other medical treatment during his period of service.  The treatment recorded was not in a combat zone thus it could not be a combat related wound and would not qualify him for award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The available records contain no evidence and he has provided no evidence to show that he was injured as a result of hostile action.  In the absence of such evidence, there are no grounds for this Board to award the Purple Heart.

3.  Inasmuch as he was awarded the CIB however, he is entitled to the BSM based on the revised criteria for that award referred to above.

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 individual concerned was awarded the BSM (based on award of the CIB) for his service during World War II.

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

BOARD VOTE:  

__jh____  ___mhm _  ___ewl       GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		_________June Hajjar_____________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2001055150	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20010801	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  107.00		
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.