PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           25 October 2001                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2001060088

	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	
	Mrs. Nancy Amos		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Raymond J. Wagner		Chairperson	
	Ms. Kathleen A. Newman		Member	
	Mr. Ronald E. Blakely		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 the Purple Heart be added to his Report of Separation, DD Form 214.

3.  The applicant states that his wounds are listed but his Purple Heart is not.

4.  The applicant’s military records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire in 1973.  Information contained herein was obtained from alternate sources.

5.  The applicant entered active duty on 31 March 1951.  He served in Korea.  He separated on 25 September 1953.  His DD Form 214, item 29 shows that he received wounds (a perforating wound to the left heel and a shell fragment wound to the right hand and right shoulder) as a result of action with enemy forces.  

6.  Office of the Surgeon General Hospital Admission Cards confirm that the applicant was hospitalized on 23 September 1951 for a machine gun bullet wound to the heel and on 13 October 1951 for an explosive projectile shell wound to the hand and shoulder, both wounds the direct result of enemy action.

7.  The applicant was provided a Purple Heart certificate dated 14 March 1961 showing he was wounded in action on 23 September 1951.

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 by a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence of record shows the applicant was wounded in action on two separate occasions.  It appears he was awarded the Purple Heart for one of those wounds after he separated.  He is entitled to two awards of the Purple Heart.

2.  In view of the foregoing, the applicant’s records should be corrected as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

1.  That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by awarding the applicant the Purple Heart for wounds received in action on 13 October 1951.

2.  That the applicant’s DD Form 214 be amended to show he was awarded two Purple Hearts.

BOARD VOTE:  

__rjw___  __kan___  __reb___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

			Raymond J. Wagner
		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2001060088	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20011025	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.0015	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.