PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:      

	BOARD DATE:           31 January 2002                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AC2001057411

	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. Raymond V. O'Connor, Jr.		Chairperson	
	Mr. Elzey J. Arledge		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 reconsideration of his earlier appeal to correct his military records by awarding him the Purple Heart. 

3.  He states, in effect, that unit morning reports attached to this request show that he was hospitalized as a battle casualty from 20 January 1944 to 30 January 1944.  This information together with the previously submitted statement of his former comrade-in-arms shows that the requested relief is warranted.  He submits copies of the unit morning reports to substantiate his case.  The applicant’s son examined the morning reports and concluded that the numbers mentioned in the commanding officers note do not balance unless the applicant is counted among those who were wounded in action (WIA) and hospitalized.

4.  Incorporated herein by reference are military records that were summarized in the decisional document prepared to reflect the Board's previous consideration of the case (AR2000042129) on 15 August 2000.

5.  The morning reports are new evidence that requires Board consideration.

6.  The unit morning report for 20 January 1944 lists soldiers by service number, name and rank.  Seven named individuals are listed as “LWA” (lightly wounded in action) but not hospitalized.  Two named soldiers were wounded in action and hospitalized.  One was listed as missing in action (MIA).  The applicant and a private are then listed and their names are followed by the notation “above 2 EM fr dy to abs sk Hosp Unknown.”  There is no indication that they were wounded in action. In all, thirteen individuals are listed, which coincides with the commanding officer’s attached note with regard to one of two phases of that day’s combat operations.  It does not account for the fact that the other phase resulted in five other WIAs, of whom three were hospitalized.  The morning report for 30 January 1944 shows that the applicant returned to duty from the hospital.

7.  The previous board review of the case included the notarized statement from the unit’s company clerk to the effect that, on 20 January 1944, the applicant had been hospitalized for 10 days when he suffered a concussion as the result of an enemy mortar round.

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained while in action against the 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.

19.  A health record research project, commonly referred to as the "SGO Files", involved transposing the hospital admission card data from the periods of World War II and the Korean conflict onto magnetic tape.  In 1988 the National Research Council made these tape files available to the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC).  The availability of the information to the NPRC 
received considerable publicity by the various veteran’s service organizations.  It was widely believed that these tapes would become a valuable substitute for the records lost in the NPRC fire of 1973.  It is estimated that the SGO files document 95 percent of all hospitalized battle casualties from World War II and the Korean War.   Searches of these files contain records of other periods of hospitalization for the applicant, but there is none for this January 1944 period.  

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  On the morning report for 20 January 1944, the applicant is listed as absent sick in an unknown hospital.  He is not shown as having been WIA.  Analysis of the number and disposition of the named individuals may suggest that the applicant should be counted among the WIAs, but it is not conclusive.

2.  Nevertheless, the morning reports for 20 January 1944 and 30 January 1944 clearly show that the applicant was hospitalized for ten days.  The notarized statement from the company clerk indicates that this hospitalization was for a concussion sustained as the result of an enemy mortar barrage.  This meets the regulatory criteria for award of the Purple Heart. 

3.  Although the statements of individuals are insufficient as the sole basis for award of the Purple Heart, they do meet the regulatory requirement for substantiation of the combat or enemy origin of a wound for which there is a record of treatment. 

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

RECOMMENDATION:

That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by showing that the individual concerned was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds sustained as the result of enemy action on 20 January 1944.                

BOARD VOTE:

__RVO__  __EJA___  ___RKS_  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		_Raymond V. O'Connor, Jr.
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2001057411	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20020131	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	Grant	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.00	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.