PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:       

	BOARD DATE:            30 May 2002
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2002069026

	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. Jessie B. Strickland		Analyst	

The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Raymond V. O’Connor, Jr.		Chairperson	
	Mr. John P. Infante		Member	
	Ms. Paula Mokulis		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 records be corrected to reflect his award of the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that he was awarded the Purple Heart; however, it was not added to his report of separation (DD Form 214). In support of his application he submits a copy of his DD Form 214.

4.  The applicant’s military records were destroyed in the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri, which destroyed millions of service records.  However, information obtained from the DD Form 214 and the hospital admission records of the Department of the Army Office of the Surgeon General, show that the applicant enlisted on 4 January 1949 in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.  

5.  He served in Korea as an infantryman and was wounded in combat on 27 November 1950.  He was hospitalized for treatment and was subsequently evacuated to a hospital in Japan.

6.  On 12 June 1952, he was honorably discharged on the expiration of his term of service at Camp Atterbury, Indiana.  He had served 3 years, 5 months and 9 days of total active service and was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Army of Occupation Medal (Japan), and the Korean Service Medal with five bronze service stars.  His DD Form 214 shows in item 29 (Wounds Received as a Result of Action with Enemy Forces), that he received a gunshot wound to the back in North Korea on 27 November 1950.  There is no indication that he was ever awarded the Purple Heart.

7.  Army Regulation 672-5-1, in effect at the time, provided the criteria for award of the Purple Heart.  It 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 a result of hostile action, that the wound must have required treatment by a medical officer, and that the medical treatment was made a matter of official record.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The Board finds, based on the evidence submitted by the applicant as well as the available evidence of record, that it is reasonable to presume that the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart for his wounds on 27 November 1950, and that an administrative error resulted in the omission of that award from his records.

2.  Accordingly, the Board finds that it would be in the interest of justice to correct that error at this time by showing that he was awarded the Purple Heart.
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.

BOARD VOTE:  

___jpi___  ___pm __  __rvo ___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		_Raymond V. O’Connor, Jr._
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2002069026	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	2002/05/30	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  189	110.0000/CORR 214	
2.  61	107.0015/PH	
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.