PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           23 October 2003                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:  AR2003089721

	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	
	Mrs. Nancy L. Amos		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. JoAnn Langston		Chairperson	
	Ms. Margaret K. Patterson		Member	
	Mr. Arthur A. Omartian		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, in effect, award of the Purple Heart and any other medals he should have received.

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that he was treated for shrapnel during World War II and told they would report it.  He was wounded several times in the knee and back.  As supporting evidence, he provides a service medical record showing he had a shrapnel injury to his left knee and his Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Rating Decision dated 17 October 1997.

4.  The applicant’s WD AGO Form 24 (Service Record) shows that he enlisted in the National Guard on 24 September 1940 and entered active service on            25 November 1940.  He was assigned to the 14th Field Artillery Battalion on      24 September 1941 and remained assigned to the battalion until his return from overseas.  He departed the continental United States on 22 November 1941.  He arrived in Australia on 6 January 1942 and in New Guinea (variously serving at Milne Bay, Woodlark, Finschhafen, and Noemfoor Island) on 23 July 1943.  He departed Noemfoor Island, New Guinea on 19 December 1944 and arrived in the continental United States on 20 January 1945.

5.  The applicant provides a 1-page extract from his service medical records with the entry, dated 12 April 1945, "Has had shrapnel injury to left knee.  Never been studied.  X-ray left knee."

6.  An entry in the Remarks section of the applicant's WD AGO Form 24 indicates he was favorably considered for award of the Army Good Conduct Medal on        5 July 1943, again on 7 March 1945, and again on 2 July 1945.

7.  The applicant was separated on 8 July 1945 and several years later enlisted in the Air National Guard.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation) shows he received participation credit for three campaigns.  Item 33 (Decorations and Awards) contains the entry, "None."  Item 55 (Remarks) shows he was awarded the Asiatic-Pacific Theater Service Medal (currently known as the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal), the American Defense Service Medal with bronze star, six overseas service bars, the lapel button, and four discharge emblems.  Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) contains the entry, "None."

8.  The applicant's 17 October 1997 VA Rating Decision shows he was awarded service-connection for pain in the left knee as the result of a piece of shrapnel which he received in World War II.  There was a healing wound where a piece of shell fragment had recently extruded.  The VA Rating Decision indicated that his claim for service connection for shrapnel wound of the back was not well grounded.  Service medical records showed he was seen in September 1943 for acute lumbar strain while loading cargo on a ship and no further treatment was shown during his first period of active duty.
9.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides for award of the Purple Heart 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.

10.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides for the wear of one bronze service star on the appropriate service medal for each credited campaign participation.

11.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides for award of the World War II Victory Medal.  It is awarded for service between 7 December 1941 and 31 December 1946, both dates inclusive.

12.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides for the “arrowhead” to be worn on the appropriate service medal to denote participation in a combat parachute jump, helicopter assault landing, combat glider landing, or amphibious assault landing while assigned or attached as a member of an organized force carrying out an assigned tactical mission.  The regulation specifies that individual assault credit is tied directly to the combat assault credit decision for the unit to which the soldier is assigned.  The regulation requires that the unit must be credited with a combat assault in order for the soldiers to receive credit for a combat assault and the soldier must physically exit the aircraft or the watercraft as appropriate.  The arrowhead is authorized for wear on the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal and other campaign medals.

13.  Army Regulation 600-65, in effect at the time, provided policy and criteria concerning service medals.  It stated that the Army Good Conduct Medal was awarded for each 3 years of continuous enlisted active Federal military service completed on or after 27 August 1940.

14.  Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-1 (Unit Citation and Campaign Participation Credit Register) lists the unit awards received by units serving during World War II.  It also lists whether a unit was awarded assault credit.  This document shows that, at the time of the applicant's assignment to the 147th Field Artillery Battalion, it was awarded assault credit for Noemfoor Island on 2 July 1944 by War Department Number 109, dated 1946.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The only evidence of record available shows the applicant received a shrapnel injury to his knee but there is no evidence which shows how he received that injury.  Absent evidence which shows that the injury was incurred as the result of hostile action, there is insufficient evidence on which to base award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The evidence of record shows the applicant was favorably considered for award of the Army Good Conduct Medal but was never awarded it.

3.  The applicant meets the eligibility criteria for wear of three bronze service stars on the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal by reason of receiving participation credit for three campaigns.

4.  The applicant's unit was awarded assault credit for Noemfoor Island during a period of time he was assigned to the unit and on Noemfoor Island and he therefore meets the eligibility criteria for wear of an arrowhead on the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal.

5.  The applicant meets the eligibility criteria for award of the World War II Victory Medal.  

6.  In view of the foregoing, the applicant’s records should be corrected but only as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

1.  That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by awarding the applicant the Army Good Conduct Medal for the period 25 November 1940 through 24 November 1943.

2.  That the applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 be amended to add the Army Good Conduct Medal and the World War II Victory Medal and to show he is authorized to wear three bronze service stars and an arrowhead on the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal.

3.  That so much of the application as pertains to award of the Purple Heart be denied.

BOARD VOTE:  

__jl_____  _mkp____  __aao___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		__JoAnn Langston______
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2003089721	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20031023	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY	Mr. Schneider	
ISSUES         1.	107.0015	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.