PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:       

	BOARD DATE:            08 NOVEMBER 2001             
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2001060795

	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	
	Mr. Kenneth H. Aucock		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Fred N. Eichorn		Chairperson	
	Ms. Barbara J. Ellis		Member	
	Ms. Karen Y. Fletcher		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 award of the Purple Heart, Bronze Star Medal, Soldier’s Medal, and any other awards to which he is entitled. 

3.  The applicant states that his battalion personnel officer, who saw the applicant in the 48th General Hospital in Paris, failed to recommend him for award of the Purple Heart.

4.  The applicant’s counsel submits numerous documents concerning the applicant’s activities during World War II, to include his participation as an infantryman with the 1st Battalion, 417th Infantry.  He states that the applicant sustained injuries to his foot and leg by small shrapnel fragments caused by a mortar attack in January 1945, and was evacuated to the 48th General Hospital in Paris.  He comments on his courageous action in February 1945 in a successful engagement whereby the applicant killed many enemy soldiers, and he himself was wounded.  He states that the applicant was blown through the air in an explosion while attempting to extinguish explosive charges.  He states that the applicant captured 60 prisoners single-handedly in May 1945.

5.  Included with this application are numerous copies of photographs, copies of the applicant’s letters to his wife during the war, and a copy of a history of the   1st Battalion, 417th Infantry Regiment.

6.  The applicant provides a statement dated 19 March 2001 saying that he (and his comrades) walked over 150 miles in about a week in April 1945, receiving a blister on his left leg which became badly infected.  He was evacuated to a hospital in France.  While at the hospital a clerk was obtaining information for the award of the Purple Heart, but because of the nature of his injury, he declined to accept the opportunity to obtain that award.  In another statement, the applicant commented on three of his experiences, but did not state that he was wounded. 

7.  The applicant’s military records may have been lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973.  Information herein was obtained from alternate sources.  

8.  The applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Discharge) shows that he was inducted into the Army on 24 April 1944, arrived overseas on 4 December 1944 and returned to the United States on                     7 March 1946.  The applicant was a rifleman with Company A, 417th Infantry Regiment.  The 417th Infantry Regiment was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation and the Army of Occupation Medal with Germany clasp, during his assignment with that organization.  He participated in three campaigns during the war and was awarded the Good Conduct Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, and the Combat Infantryman Badge.  He was discharged on 13 March 1946 at Fort Devens, Massachusetts. 
9.  Information from hospital admission cards created by the Office of The Surgeon General show that the applicant was admitted to a hospital because of a non-battle injury, a blister to his heel, on 19 April 1945, and was discharged from the hospital on 8 May 1945. 

10.  Army Regulation 600-8-2 prescribes Army policy, criteria, and administrative instructions concerning individual military awards.  Paragraph 1-14 states that each recommendation for an award of a military decoration must be entered administratively into military channels within 2 years of the act, achievement, or service to be honored.  No military decoration, except the Purple Heart will be awarded more than 3 years after the act or period of service to be honored.

11.  The Soldier’s Medal is awarded to any person of the Armed Forces of the United States who distinguished himself by heroism not involving actual conflict with an enemy.  The performance must have involved personal hazard or danger and the voluntary risk of life under conditions not involving conflict with an armed enemy.  As with all personal decorations, formal recommendations, approval through the chain of command, and announcement in orders are required.

12.  That regulation provides 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.

13.  It also provides for award of the Bronze Star Medal to each member of the Armed Forces of the United States who, after 6 December 1941 has been cited in orders or awarded a certificate for exemplary conduct in ground combat against an armed enemy between 7 December 1941 and 2 September 1945.  The award of a Combat Infantryman Badge is considered as a citation in orders.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  There is no evidence to show that the applicant was wounded in action.  The applicant himself stated that he developed a blister on his foot from marching and was hospitalized in Paris because of that blister.  The hospital admissions card created by the Office of The Surgeon General confirms this information.  The applicant is not entitled to award of the Purple Heart.

2.  There is no information or evidence to show that the applicant was awarded or recommended for award of the Soldier’s Medal or any other medal.  There is no substantiating evidence concerning the applicant’s actions as reflected by counsel.  The applicant is not entitled to award of the Soldier’s Medal.  

3.  The applicant was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge and is therefore entitled to award of the Bronze Star Medal.  

4.  The applicant is entitled to award of the Presidential Unit Citation and the Army Occupation Medal with Germany clasp.

5.  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 showing that the individual concerned was awarded the Bronze Star Medal, the Presidential Unit Citation, and the Army of Occupation Medal with Germany clasp. 

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

BOARD VOTE:  

__FNE __  __BJE __  __KYF __  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		____Fred N. Eichorn ___
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2001060795	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20011108	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.00	
2.	46	
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.