PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:       

	BOARD DATE:            7 August 2001
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2001056175

	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. Jessie B. Strickland		Analyst	

The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. Margaret K. Patterson		Chairperson	
	Mr. Thomas B. Redfern, III		Member	
	Ms. Regan K. Smith		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, in effect, that his records be corrected to reflect his award of the Purple Heart. 

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that he was awarded the Purple Heart after being released from Hammond General Hospital in Modesto, California; however, his report of separation (WD AGO Form 53-55) did not reflect his wounds or the award of the Purple Heart.  In support of his application he submits copies of his WD AGO Form 53-55 and his separation qualification record (WD AGO Form 100) 

4.  The applicant’s military records were destroyed in the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri that destroyed millions of service records.  However, information obtained from the documents submitted by the applicant, as well as hospital admission records obtained from the Office of the Surgeon General (OTSG) of the Department of the Army (DA) show that he was inducted on 17 February 1942 and he departed for the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations on 18 February 1943 for duty as a marine engineman.  

5.  On 19 November 1944 he was wounded in combat (machine gun bullet wound to forearm) and was evacuated for treatment.  

6.  He was honorably discharged at Hammond General Hospital on 15 November 1945 with a Certificate of Disability for Discharge.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows that he received no wounds and shows no indication that he was awarded the Purple Heart.

7.  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 a result of hostile action, that the wound must have required treatment by a medical officer, and that the medical treatment was made a matter of official record.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The available evidence of record clearly shows that the applicant was wounded in combat and treated by medical personnel.  Therefore, it is reasonable to presume that the omission of the award of the Purple Heart that the applicant was awarded was simply an administrative oversight.

2.  Therefore, the Board finds that it would in the interest of justice to correct this oversight by showing that he was wounded on 19 November 1944 and that he was awarded the Purple Heart.

3.  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 be corrected by showing that the individual concerned was wounded in combat on 19 November 1944 and that he was awarded the Purple Heart.

BOARD VOTE:  

__tbr ___  __mkp___  ___rks __  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		___Margaret K. Patterson____
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2001056175	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	2001/08/07	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  189	110.0000/corr 214	
2.  61	107.0015/ph	
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.