PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:     

	BOARD DATE:           5 February 2002                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:  AR2001061500

	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. W. E. Schnupp		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. June Hajjar		Chairperson	
	Ms. Karol A. Kennedy		Member	
	Mr. Roger W. Able		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 his separation document be corrected to show that he was wounded in action and awarded the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant states that item 33 (decorations and citations), of his separation document does not show that he was awarded the Purple Heart, and item 34 (wounds received in action), does not show that he was wounded in action.

4.  In support of his request, he provides a copy of his WD AGO Form 53-55, Enlisted Record and Report of Separation, a copy of a Western Union Telegram advising his mother that he had been wounded in action and a copy of a newspaper clipping announcing that the applicant, among others, had been wounded in action in Europe.

5.  The applicant’s military records show that he was inducted on 8 September 1942, served in the European Theater of Operations from March 1944 to October 1945, and was honorably discharged on 22 October 1945 in the grade of technician 4th grade.

6.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 does not reflect that he was awarded the Purple Heart or that he was wounded in action.

7.  The Western Union Telegram that he provided with his application is addressed to his mother from The Adjutant General of the Army, and states that the applicant was “slightly wounded in action in France on 9 September 1944.”  The newspaper clipping he provided simply lists his name among 51 others as having been wounded in the European area.  No further details are provided in the clipping.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Evidence provided by the applicant shows that he sustained wounds in action on 9 September 1944 that should entitle him to award of the Purple Heart.

2.  Accordingly, his WD AGO Form 53-55 should be corrected to show, in item 33, that he was awarded the Purple Heart, and in item 34, that he was wounded on 9 September 1944.

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 showing that the individual concerned was wounded in action on 9 September 1944 and that he was awarded the Purple Heart.

BOARD VOTE:  

____rwa_  ___jh ___  ___kak___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		__________June Hajjar_______
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2001061500	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20020205	
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.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.