PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:       

	BOARD DATE:            22 August 2002
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2002069632

	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:

	Ms. Joann H. Langston		Chairperson	
	Mr. Raymond V. O’Connor, Jr.		Member	
	Ms. Barbara J. Lutz		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 hit in the top of the head with shrapnel and was treated in a field hospital in 1952, where they removed the shrapnel from his head.  In support of his application he submits a copy of his report of separation (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 alternate sources, as well as the DD Form 214 provided by the applicant, show that he was inducted in Indianapolis, Indiana, on 10 April 1951. 

5.  He was advanced to the rank of sergeant on 31 December 1952 and was honorably released from active duty (REFRAD) at Camp Carson, Colorado, on 1 May 1953, due to the expiration of his term of service (ETS).  He had served 2 years and 22 days of total active service and was awarded the Korean Service Medal with two bronze service stars and the United Nations Service Medal.

6.  A review of the hospital admission files compiled by the Department of the Army Surgeon General’s Office shows that the applicant was admitted to the hospital and treated on four separate occasions, once for a common cold, once for influenza and twice for treatment of a Chancroid (June 1952 and March 1953).  A review of unit records at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland, fails to show that he was ever reported or treated as a battle casualty. 

7.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound/injury 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.

8.  That regulation also provides that the National Defense Service Medal (NDSM) is awarded for honorable active service for any period between 27 June 1950 and 27 July 1954.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The Board has noted the applicant’s contention that he was wounded in Korea.  However, there is no evidence in the available records to show that the applicant was wounded or injured in Korea during an action by enemy forces.  Accordingly, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, there appears to be no basis to award him the Purple Heart.

2.  However, the Board does find that he was entitled to be awarded the NDSM for his service between 1951 and 1952.  Accordingly, it would be in the interest of justice to do so at this time.

3.  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 awarding the individual concerned the NDSM.

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

BOARD VOTE:  

____jhl__  __bjl ____  __rvo ___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		____Joann H. Langston____
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2002069632	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	2002/08/22	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  61	107.0015/ph	
2.  115	107.0069/ndsm	
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.