PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:       

	BOARD DATE:            13 June 2002
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2002070002

	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. Celia L. Adolphi		Chairperson	
	Ms. Barbara J. Ellis		Member	
	Mr. Donald P. Hupman		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 that he was wounded on 19 October 1951 and was awarded the Purple Heart; however, it was never included on 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 alternate sources as well as the DD Form 214 provided by the applicant, show that he enlisted in Des Moines, Iowa, on 31 January 1951.

5.  On 19 October 1951, he was wounded in action at Kumsong, Korea and was evacuated to a hospital for treatment.  He was subsequently evacuated to the United States and was assigned to the hospital at Camp Carson, Colorado, where he remained until he was honorably released from active duty on 30 April 1954, by reason of permanent physical disability and was placed on the Retired List with a 40% disability rating.  In item 29 of his DD Form 214, under “Wounds received as a result of action with Enemy”, it indicates that he had a gun shot wound, right arm and chest, 19 October 1951.

6.  Information obtained from the hospital admission cards created by the Department of the Army, Office of the Surgeon General, confirms the applicant’s wounds.

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/injury was a result of hostile action, that the wound/injury must have required treatment by a medical officer, and that the medical treatment was made a matter of official record.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The available evidence of record clearly shows that he was wounded and was entitled to an award of the Purple Heart.  Accordingly, it is reasonable to believe that he was in fact awarded the Purple Heart as he claims and that an administrative oversight resulted in the omission of that award from his record.

2.  Therefore, the Board finds that it would be in the interest of justice to correct the error in this case 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:  

___cla___  ___be___  ___dh___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		_____Celia L. Adolphi_____
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2002070002	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	2002/06/13	
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.