PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           30 August 2001     
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2001058162

	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. Wanda L. Waller		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Raymond V. O’Connor		Chairperson	
	Mr. Christopher J. Prosser		Member	
	Ms. Linda D. Simmons		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 correction of his discharge document to show award of the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant states that he was wounded at Anzio in 1944.  He contends that he received the Purple Heart medal while he was in the hospital; however, this award is not shown on his discharge document.  In support of his application, he submits a copy of his Enlisted Record; his Honorable Discharge; General Orders Number 53, dated 29 June 1944; VA documentation; and a photograph of a Combat Infantryman Badge and Purple Heart medal.

4.  The applicant’s military records were destroyed or lost during the National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973.  Records available to the Board were obtained from alternate sources and show that the applicant was inducted on
12 December 1942.  He served as a rifleman in the European Theater of Operations from 23 September 1943 through 16 August 1944 and was honorably discharged on 9 November 1944 in the rank of private first class.

5.  The applicant’s Enlisted Record, which was authenticated in his own hand, does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award.  The section “Wounds received in service” states “None”. 

6.  There is no evidence in the available records that shows the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart or was wounded as a result of hostile action.  

7.  The Office of the Surgeon General Hospital List shows the applicant was hospitalized in February 1944 for shoulder wounds sustained as a result of hostile action in Italy.  This list also shows that the applicant was hospitalized on 16 March 1944 for thigh wounds sustained as a result of hostile action in the “European Area”.   

8.  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, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.  The bronze oak leaf cluster is awarded to denote the second and succeeding awards of certain decorations, among which is the Purple Heart.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Medical evidence of record shows the applicant was wounded as a result of hostile action in February 1944 and on 16 March 1944 in the European Theater of Operations.  Therefore, the applicant is entitled to award of the Purple Heart (First Oak Leaf Cluster) and correction of his military records to reflect the dates of his two wounds received in action.
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 be corrected by showing that the individual concerned was awarded the Purple Heart (First Oak Leaf Cluster) for wounds received in action in February 1944 and on 
16 March 1944 in the European Theater of Operations.

BOARD VOTE:  

RVO___  CJP_____  LDS_____  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		_Raymond V. O’Connor___
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2001058162	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20010830	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT PLUS)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.0015	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.