PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:          

	BOARD DATE:               22 August 2002
	DOCKET NUMBER:      AR2002072526

	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	
	Ms. Beverly A. Young		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. Joann Langston		Chairperson	
	Mr. Raymond V. O'Connor		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, as the son of a deceased former service member (FSM), requests correction of his father’s DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) to show award of the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant states that his father sustained wounds during combat in 1944, but he never received the Purple Heart.  In support of his application, the applicant submitted a copy of the FSM's DD Form 214, a WD AGO Form 66-1 (Officers and Warrant Officer's Qualification Card), the FSM's death certificate and the applicant's birth certificate. 

4.  The FSM’s military records show that he served as an enlisted soldier in the Army National Guard from March 1935 to May 1941.  He was appointed as a Reserve commissioned officer on 2 May 1941.  The FSM honorably served on active duty for over 20 years and retired in the rank of lieutenant colonel on 31 August 1960.

5.  The FSM's DD Form 214 does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award.

6.  There are no orders in the FSM’s service personnel records which show that he was awarded the Purple Heart.  Item 27 (Wounds Received as a Result of Action with Enemy Forces) on his DD Form 214 shows the entry "Injury to head during action in Bougainville, Solomon Islands in March 1944; Hospitalized July 1944 to Jan 1946 as the result."

7.  The FSM's personnel records contain a WD AGO Form 63 (Report of Physical Examination), dated 16 April 1946, which shows the entry "Shell fragment wound, left ear – 1944" in item 12 (Medical History).

8.  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, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  There are no orders available to the Board which authorize award of the Purple Heart to the FSM.  However, evidence of record shows he sustained an injury to his head in March 1944 as a result of hostile action.  Therefore, he is entitled to award of the Purple Heart and correction of his military records to show this award.

2.  In view of the foregoing, the FSM’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 individual concerned was awarded the Purple Heart.

BOARD VOTE:  

JL_____  RVO_____  BJL_____  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		Joann Langston________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2002072526	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20020822	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY	Mr. Schneider	
ISSUES         1.	107.0015	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.