MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:  18 October 2001
	DOCKET NUMBER:  AR2001058896

	I certify that hereinafter is recorded the record of consideration of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in the case of the above-named individual.

	Mr. Carl W. S. Chun		Director	
	Ms. Lee Tinsley		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Fred N. Eichorn		Chairperson	
	Ms. Barbara J. Ellis		Member	
	Mr. Melvin H. Meyer		Member	

	The Board, established pursuant to authority contained in 10 U.S.C. 1552, convened at the call of the Chairperson on the above date.  In accordance with Army Regulation 15-185, the application and the available military records pertinent to the corrective action requested were reviewed to determine whether to authorize a formal hearing, recommend that the records be corrected without a formal hearing, or to deny the application without a formal hearing if it is determined that insufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the existence of probable material error or injustice.

	The applicant requests correction of military records as stated in the application to the Board and as restated herein.

	The Board considered the following evidence:

	Exhibit A - Application for correction of military 
                records
	Exhibit B - Military Personnel Records (including
	            advisory opinion, if any)

APPLICANT REQUESTS:  That he be awarded the Purple Heart.

APPLICANT STATES:  That he is entitled to the Purple Heart based on a wound in his upper left arm.

EVIDENCE OF RECORD:  The applicant's military records were lost or destroyed in the July 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center.  Information herein was obtained from reconstructed personnel records.

He was inducted and entered active duty on 24 February 1944.  He was trained as a tank crewman and served in Europe from 28 October 1944 to 27 April 1946.  He served in three campaigns and was also awarded the Good Conduct Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Bronze Star Medal, the Army of Occupation Medal w/Germany clasp and an Honorable Service Lapel Button WWII.  The Purple Heart is not listed on his WD AGO 53-55 (Report of Separation) and block 
34 (wounds received in action) states NONE.  He authenticated his discharge document with his thumbprint and signature on the date of his separation, 11 May 1946.  There are no medical records or treatment documents available.

The applicant submits two separate letters from a civilian doctor stating that there is a piece of metal in the applicant’s upper left arm verified by x-rays.  A witness statement, written 56 years after the fact, by a fellow soldier states that he witnessed the applicant being hit by shrapnel and that the applicant was treated by a field medic but that the applicant refused to be evacuated to a field hospital for further treatment.  A Department of Veterans Affairs (DAV) rating decision dated 25 August 1999, states that the applicant had been awarded a 10 percent rating for retained foreign bodies in his left arm.

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 veterans service organizations.  It was widely believed that these tapes would become a valuable substitute for the records lost in the NPRC fire of 1973.  Searches of these files fail to show that the applicant was treated for wounds or injuries as a result of enemy action.

Army Regulation 600-45, Personnel Decorations (C-5, dated 11 Nov 44), in effect at the time, indicated that the Purple Heart was awarded to members who were wounded in action against an enemy of the United States, or as a direct result of an act of such enemy, provided such wound necessitated treatment by a medical officer.  (For the purpose of awarding the Purple Heart, a wound is defined as an injury to any part of the body from an outside force, element, or agent sustained as the result of a hostile act of the enemy or while in action in the face of the enemy.)  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 at the time of treatment.

DISCUSSION:  Considering all the evidence, allegations, and information presented by the applicant, together with the evidence of record, and applicable law and regulations, it is concluded:

1.  In order to justify correction of a military record, the applicant must show to the satisfaction of the Board, or it must otherwise satisfactorily appear, that the record is in error or unjust.  The applicant has failed to submit evidence that would satisfy this requirement.

2.  The statements of individuals are inadequate as the sole basis for an award of the Purple Heart because they do not fulfill the regulatory requirement that there be a record of medical treatment at the time of the injury.  However, they are normally accepted as a substantiation of the combat or the enemy origin of a wound for which there is a record of treatment.

3.  The rating decision from the DVA states that when reasonable doubt occurs regarding service origin and the degree of the disability then such doubt is resolved in favor of the applicant.  This Board is not bound by the decisions of the DVA on this matter.  There is insufficient credible evidence to show that the applicant was wounded as a result of enemy action.

4.  In view of the foregoing, there is no basis for granting the applicant's request.

DETERMINATION:  The applicant has failed to submit sufficient relevant evidence to demonstrate the existence of probable error or injustice.

BOARD VOTE:

                                                           GRANT

                                                           GRANT FORMAL HEARING

    fe                be                  mm        DENY APPLICATION

Carl W. S. Chun
Director, Army Board for Correction
of Military Records

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2001058896	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20011018	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	DENY	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  107	Purple Heart	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.