PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF 

	BOARD DATE:  30 October 2001
	DOCKET NUMBER:  AR2001059574

	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. Joyce A. Wright		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. Celia L. Adolphi		Chairperson	
	Mr. Harry B. Oberg		Member	
	Mr. Arthur A. Omartian		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, correction of his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation). 

3.  The applicant states that he served overseas with the 554th Battalion.  
In support of his application he submits a copy of his WD AGO Form 53-55 
and a certificate from the White House.

4.  The applicant’s military records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973.  Records available to the Board were obtained from alternate sources and show he was inducted on 31 August 1943.
He served in the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater of Operations from 20 May 1944 to 10 May 1945, and was honorably discharged on 18 December 1945.

5.  There is no evidence in the available records to show that he served with the 554th Battalion.

6.  The applicant’s records contain a copy of a Surgeon General’s Officer (SGO) Hospital Listing which shows that the applicant was admitted to the hospital on 26 March 1945 as a battle injury.  He was diagnosed as having a thigh wound, penetrating (point of entrance only: includes incised, puncture or stab wound) with no nerve or artery involvement which was caused by a rifle bullet.  It was categorized as a battle casualty.

7.  Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) of the applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55, which was authenticated in his own hand, shows the entry “None.”  There is no record that the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart.

8.  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 the result of hostile action, the wound must have required treatment, and the medical treatment
must have been made a matter of official record.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  There is no evidence of record, and the applicant has provided no evidence,
to show that he served with the 554th Battalion during World War II.  Therefore, he is not entitled to correction of his WD AGO Form 53-55 to show that he served with the 554th Battalion.

2.  The evidence of record shows that the applicant received a thigh wound on 26 March 1945 while serving in the European Theater of Operations.  Therefore, the applicant is entitled to correction of his records to show the award of the Purple Heart.
3.  In view of the foregoing findings and conclusions, it would be appropriate to correct the applicant’s records, but only as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

1.  That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case for the individual concerned be corrected by showing that he was awarded the Purple Heart for a thigh wound received on 26 March 1945.

2.  That so much of the application as is in excess of the foregoing be denied.

BOARD VOTE:  

__ca___  ___ho___  ___ao___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		___Celia L. Adolphi____
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2001059574	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20011030	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	HD	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	19451218	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR 615-361	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  61		
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.