PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:       

	BOARD DATE:            26 February 2002
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2001059334

	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. P. A. Castle		Analyst	

The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. Joann H. Langston		Chairperson	
	Mr. Raymond J. Wagner		Member	
	Mr. Richard T. Dunbar		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.  He says he was wounded while serving in Korea in an accident with his 2 ½ ton truck.  As a result of the accident he was found to be wounded with a fractured skull.

3.  Records available to the Board indicate the applicant was called from inactive duty on 17 October 1950 and deployed to Korea.  On 6 March 1951, the applicant was wounded in action in an accident with a 2 1/2 ton truck.  The applicant was relieved from active duty 6 October 1951.  He received an honorable discharge and completed 11 months and 20 days service during the period.  His total active Federal service was 3 years, 1 month, and 28 days, with no time lost. 

4.  The applicant submits to the Board, a 10 August 1954 Veteran’s Administration (VA) claim result.  It determined the applicant has “a scar on his scalp that was incurred in his military service and was rated as 0% disabling”.

5.  The record contains a report of separation (DD Form 214) that specifies in item 29 entitled wounds received as a result of action with enemy forces the statement “fractured skull 6 March 1951.”  Partial medical records show that he received a fractured skull and that it was in line of duty (LOD).

6.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained while in action against an enemy or as a result of hostile action.  A wound is defined as an injury to any part of the body from an outside force.  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.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Evidence of a wound sustained while in action against an enemy and that the treatment was made a matter of record, is sufficient, in and of themselves to overcome the regulatory requirement that the wound be treated by a medical officer.

2.  The applicant was injured while in action with the enemy and treated for wounds sustained under qualifying conditions.  Accordingly, he is entitled to the award of 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 awarding the individual concerned the award of the Purple Heart, for injuries received as a result of enemy action on 6 March 1951.

BOARD VOTE:  

___rjw  __  __jhl____  __rtd ___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

					____Joann H. Langston____
					        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2001059334	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	2002/02/26	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  61	107.0015/PH	
2.  		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.