PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:     

	BOARD DATE:           9 July 2002                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2002066455

	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. Joann H. Langston		Chairperson	
	Mr. Thomas B. Redfern		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 he be awarded the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that he was wounded in France on 6 November 1944.  The fact of his wounding is recorded on his WD AGO Form 53-55, Enlisted Record and Report of Separation, but the Purple Heart is not shown on the document.  He says that he needs documentation that he was awarded the Purple Heart so his billing by the Department of Veterans Affairs can be corrected.

4.  The applicant’s military records show that he was inducted on 24 August 1943, and was an infantry squad leader with C Company, 157th Infantry Regiment, in the European Theater of Operations from March 1944 to December 1945.  He was honorably discharged at demobilization on 30 December 1945, in the grade of sergeant.

5.  His awards include the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Ribbon with 4 bronze battle stars and bronze arrowhead, the Good Conduct Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) and the Marksman Badge with rifle bar.  The Purple Heart is not listed as an authorized award.

6.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows in block 34 (wounds received in action) that he was “wounded in France 6 Nov 1944.”

7.  Information obtained from hospital admission cards created by The Office of the Surgeon General (OTSG) for the year 1944, shows that the applicant was admitted to a medical treatment facility on 14 November 1944 with a penetrating wound to the back that resulted from enemy artillery fragments.

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22, Military Awards, 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.

9.  Subsequent to the cessation of hostilities during World War II, the regulation governing the award of the Bronze Star Medal (BSM) was changed, in part, to provide for the award of this decoration to those individuals who had been awarded the CIB or the Combat Medical Badge for meritorious achievement in ground combat against the armed enemy between 7 December 1941 and 2 September 1945.

10.  Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-1, Unit Citation and Campaign Participation Credit Register, shows that during the period of the applicant’s assignment to the 157th Infantry Regiment, the unit was awarded occupation credit for the occupation of Germany from 2 May to 14 August 1945.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Hospital admission information for the year 1944, maintained by the OTSG, shows that the applicant was wounded in action in France in 1944, which entitles him to award of the Purple Heart.

2.  Additionally, by virtue of his having been awarded the CIB during World War II service, he is also entitled to award of the BSM under rules established subsequent to World War II for awarding the BSM.  Likewise, he is authorized award of the Army of Occupation Medal with Germany clasp, representing his assignment to a unit during the period that unit performed occupation duty.

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 awarded the Purple Heart for wounds sustained in France in November 1944, the BSM, based on award of the CIB, and the Army of Occupation Medal with Germany clasp.

BOARD VOTE:  

____jhl__  ____tbr__  ____rwa_  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		_________Joann H. Langston_______
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2002066455	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20020709	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT PLUS)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  107.00		
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.