PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           15 November 2001                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2001061817

	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:

	Ms. Irene N. Wheelwright		Chairperson	
	Mr. Stanley Kelley		Member	
	Ms. Karen A. Heinz		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, that his Report of Separation, WD AGO Form 53-55, be corrected to show he received the Purple Heart. He states that he received the Purple Heart when he was discharged.

3.  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.

4.  The applicant was inducted into the Army and entered active duty on 29 May 1944.  He arrived in France on 15 December 1944.  Office of the Surgeon General Hospital Admission Cards show that he received a contusion wound due to artillery shell fragments on 11 January 1945 and was a battle casualty.  He departed France on 25 April 1945.  He separated on 5 December 1945.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows that he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge.

5.  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.  It also provides for the award of the Bronze Star Medal to members of the armed forces who, after 6 December 1941 and prior to 3 September 1945, have been cited in orders or in a formal certificate for meritorious or exemplary conduct in ground combat against the armed enemy.  A citation in orders for the Combat Infantryman Badge or Medical Badge awarded in the field during the period of actual combat against the armed enemy is considered as a citation for exemplary conduct in ground combat.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence of record shows the applicant was wounded in action on 11 January 1945; therefore, he met the eligibility criteria for award of the Purple Heart.  He is also entitled to award of the Bronze Star Medal based upon his award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.

2.  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 the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received on          11 January 1945 and the Bronze Star Medal.

BOARD VOTE:  

__inw___  __sk____  __kah___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

			Irene N. Wheelwright
		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2001061817	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20011115	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.0015	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.